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"In somewhat of a twist on the usual back and forth jabs Sony and Nintendo take at each other, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide President Shu Yoshida offered his take in a recent interview with Game Informer on the 3DS and its competition with Sony's upcoming PS Vita."
NoobFeed.com is bound to have at least 1 person lucky enough to be in the key demographic pinpointed by Nintendo in this spring contest. For those of you lucky enough to be one of the fortunate ones (no Frenchies), team up with some delicious Froot Loops and take your chances on winning a Nintendo DSi XL plus a copy of Mario Vs Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem or a credit card. Credit cards for kids, who knew, right?
According to Nintendo, don't be expecting digital distribution to usher in a new business model anytime soon. Check out what Nintendo said of the matter. Cheers!
The Nintendo DS system is one of the most popular handhelds in gaming and has garnered a massive consumer base since its release. What will happen to Nintendo's current dual screen powerhouse when the 3DS launches?
"Looking back at days of old it's interesting to see where we started and how the evolution of consoles has changed from being dedicated videogame machines to the multimedia platforms we have today. Remember your first console or home computer, whether it was the Atari 2600 or the later generation Playstation, we all have a history of playing video games. Mine was the Commodore 64 a computer that would load games from audio cassette or floppy disks. In 1988 I would own my first cartridge based..."
"This is not a huge surprise, but the Nintendo 3DS will not be shown off at the upcoming GamesCom event. It’s likely that we’ll have to wait until September 29th before we get our next wave of 3DS goodies.
That said, you can click here to see the list of other Nintendo products that will be apart of the GamesCom line-up."
"Nintendo launched downloadable games for the DSi and WiiWare with the plan of attracting smaller developers that can create innovative and original games for the DSi and Wii. While there have been some creative games since the two services were launched, they still suffer from a few problems. Saturo Iwata has stated that DSiWare will see improvements with the introduction of the 3DS but we are going to look at five basic improvements that can be made to both services."
"Nintendo's DSiWare and WiiWare have been moderately successful digital content distribution platforms for the Nintendo DSi and Wii. However, they have not fully realized the potential of digital distribution in the way that the Xbox 360, PS3, or PC have. According to Nintendo President, Satoru Iwata, that will change starting with the Nintendo 3DS."
"I was one of those journalists lucky enough to test out the 3DS in person and view some of its - literally - eye-popping games at the Nintendo E3 booth. Interestingly, my Nintendo appointment was right after I spent an hour testing the Sony lineup, which also had a number of games playable in 3D. While the basic effect is the same, there are a number of key differences between the Sony and Nintendo ways of presenting games in the third dimension. I’d even go as far as to say, there are three ..."
Matty from Defcon: Awesome breaks down everything you need to know about the Nintendo 3ds. He discusses a couple of potential problems for the 3d effects and the use of the 3d in combination with the accelerometer, but overall the message is clear: You need to own one of these things.
Three new colors for the Nintendo DSi LL (the DSi XL overseas) are headed to Japan on June 19th, with the large-sized handheld becoming available in blue, yellow and green. Additionally, the console-maker has announced that the DS family of systems will be seeing a price drop in the land of the rising sun.
The DSi Lite will move from it's 16,800 yen price to an open pricing scheme. The DSi will see a 3,900 yen price drop to 15,000 yen, while the DSi LL will see a 2,000 yen drop to 18,000...
"Virtual Boy Part Deux: Meet the Nintendo 3DS
Announced ahead of E3 due to leak concerns, we know that, despite the recent launch of the Nintendo DSi XL, Nintendo has a true successor for the DS line planned and that it’s in 3D. We also know that the 3D does not require glasses and can be turned off for those who experience headaches or cannot see 3D. On top of that, we know that it won’t actually be called the Nintendo 3DS. While backwards compatibility with DS games is likely, it’s hard t..."
"Nintendo had to announce the release of the 3DS early to beat reporters in Japan from leaking information too early. We still haven't seen the new hand-held from the House of Mario but we now may know when gamers can get it in their hands. According to industry source in the UK, the Nintendo 3DS will be released to retail this October ahead of the holiday season."
Everybody is speculating how the new Nintendo 3DS will work. The Kartel decided to investigate what the infamous Nintendo 3DS will really feature. Here are the speculations we've found from forums to experts alike.
On this week's The Bender podcast, Intern Elissa joins James, Mike, and Richard discuss what is going on in the world of gaming and a little more. We have a 'tip of the week' (which will probably never happen again), talk a little eBay, attempt to find validity in the existence of the PSP and much more.
Get us through iTunes - Zune - or Download the mp3 Directly Here
"Following previous success in the field, the London MCM Expo is looking for gamers to help set a new Guinness World Record for the Largest Handheld Game Console Party, which is currently held by Australia. Taking place on 29th May 2010, all people have to do is attend the show and bring their Nintendo DS system and a game along when the record attempt will be made at noon in the MCM Expo Theatre."
"Nintendo is celebrating another victory in the war against the R4 card with news that an Australian distributor has been heavily fined for selling the device.
ITnews reports that RSJ IT Solutions has been ordered to pay AUS$520,000 to Nintendo as a result of offering the R4 to customers. It has also been instructed to stop selling the R4 through one of its ecommerce portals."
"Launching across Europe today is a brand new Nintendo DSi bundle, featuring a pink Nintendo DSi console and a copy of Nintendo Presents: Style Boutique. Available with a Recommended Retail Price (RRP) of £149.99 – the same RRP as the Nintendo DSi solus bundle – this new offer is timed perfectly to become a hot tip for Valentine's Day."
"If you are looking for the perfect gift for your loved one this Valentine's Day, why not give them a pink Nintendo DSi and one of the most fashionable games in town, Nintendo Presents: Style Boutique, exclusively bundled together this February. This special console and game bundle will be available to buy in Europe on 12th February 2010."
"The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) today expressed their support of the sentencing at Hull Crown Court of criminal Yun Can Meng, for specimen charges relating to the illegal supply of imported R4 game copier cards into the UK. On 18th December 2009, Mr Meng pleaded guilty to the charges against him and today was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment."
"Nintendo Wii stormed the field with software sales of over 18 million units in the UK, retaining the title of Number One software format by units sold. Sony's PlayStation 3 also saw a dramatic increase by 14 per cent of software units sold, from 10.4 million units in 2008 to 11.9 million units in 2009. Overall, in 2009 UK consumers bought a total of 74.6 million videogame units - which works out at more than one per person in the UK."
"As we start a new decade, Nintendo has announced that there are now over 40 million Nintendo DS and 20 million Wii consoles being played across Europe. In fact, the Nintendo DS family, including Nintendo DS Lite and the latest addition, Nintendo DSi, has not only sold more than any other videogame console in Europe but it has also seen the fastest growth in European video game console history, reaching this sales figure in less than 5 years."
Nintendo has just announced a new DSi, debuting on November 21 in Japan for 20k yen, or $222 USD. Overall, it's going to be heavier and larger than the first DS, with a battery life that puts it between the DS Lite and original DSi.
Oh, and it comes with a pen stylus thing that looks kind of like a joint. Among other things. More at the source.
[Discussion in the DS Hardware forum]
"First off, the White Pack is a collection of eight items for Nintendo DSi and Nintendo DS Lite. It is composed of a hard-shell case and matching wrist strap, plus two Styluses and their innovative "spring" attachment systems. It also includes two screen protector films, and an antistatic cleaning cloth to remove dust and fingerprints, guaranteeing that your screens will always be clean."
A neat little project for the brave/technically inclined that allows you to charge your DS with any basic Mini-USB charger (ultimately any new universal portable electronic charger)
"505 Games has announced a change in release date for the upcoming Zorro: Quest for Justice. Now set for release this coming Friday, September 11th 2009, Zorro: Quest for Justice delivers a combo-based fighting system across eight levels ranging from the Spanish Garrison to the Devil's Fortress."
"Nintendo is ramping-up its fight against videogames piracy by expanding its European anti-piracy team and appointing its first European anti-piracy counsel. Neil Boyd, a British citizen, arrives at Nintendo from Warner Brothers, where he was Director, EMEA AP Counsel, responsible for developing and implementing the entertainment group's enforcement strategy to combat piracy of Warner Brothers' film, TV and entertainment content on the internet and in respect of hard goods."
There's a Nintendo fan out there with an interesting sense of humor. Whoever this person is decided to buy a PSPgo UK URL and have it lead to the official Nintendo DS / DSi site instead.
Now the http://www.pspgo.co.uk/ URL takes you to said DS / DSi hardware site. The official PSPgo page at PlayStation.com is still intact, unscathed.
Nintendo has released their first quarter financial report for the 2009 fiscal year, representing the beginning of April to the end of June. The Japanese gaming giant reports an operating income of 40.40 billion yen, with net sales of 253.50 billion yen and a net income of 42.32 billion yen.
For operating income, this represents a 66.1% decrease from the first quarter in Fiscal Year 2008. Net sales saw a 40.1% decrease, and net income had a 60.6% decrease.
Nintendo attributes the decr...
"However, Ubisoft’s market share of the DS software market has remained exactly the same – proof that the overall DS software market is in freefall.
“The DS is declining quickly,” boss Yves Guillemot stated. “The casual business is changing rapidly and we have to reinvent it this year. We already have a big shift from DS to Wii this year and it will continue with the Wii and Xbox 360 new camera next year.
“What we are seeing in Europe, especially on the DS, is that the piracy is strong..."
"A portion of a Nintendo Power interview with Miyamoto...
NP: And, of course, I have to ask: have you given any thought to putting a new Kid Icarus game on Wii or DS?
Miyamoto: Wait, please. I'm really surprised how popular that is. But you are the first person to ask at this E3!
Well, telling us to wait is the easiest way to keep us quiet. That way, if/when a new Kid Icarus is announced, we can say that Miyamoto was right!"
Nintendo confirmed their demo play feature nearly a month ago and stated that New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be the first title to use the feature. According to reports, the Wii won't be the only one to make use of this. Future games on the DS will also use Demo Play, though at this point no specific titles have been announced that will implement this.
The Japanese market has been dominated by the Nintendo DS and PSP. That trend did not change in the first half of 2009 as the two handheld systems once again dominated the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in terms of hardware sales in Japan so far in the year.
According to data from European sales tracker GfK Chart Track, Gamesindustry.biz is reporting the following lifetime numbers for each current hardware system in the UK:
Nintendo DS - 9.1m
Wii – 5.4m
Xbox 360 – 3.9m
PSP – 3.3m
PlayStation 3 – 2.2m
DSi – 0.3m
The total install base eclipses 24 million.
Within the last 12 months, each hardware system has sold this much:
Nintendo DS - 2.7m
Wii – 2.3m
Xbox 360 – 1.7m
PSP – 1.1m
PlayStation 3 – 900k
DSi – 0.3m (release...
If you're one of those people who've been rigorously collecting up Club Nintendo points since its inception back in December, you might want to read up on this announcement. Your status on Club Nintendo (Gold/Platinum) will be reset at the end of the month as the "Club Nintendo year" is about to come to an end. If you reach the end of the month with a Gold or Platinum status, you will be entitled to a special gift depending on your status. What those are have not been determined yet.
Dylan Nelson of My Secret Online Thoughts takes a look at what may be one of the DSi's most compelling reasons for a purchase. Among other things he provides his opinion of the DSi itself and GTA: Chinatown Wars.
You often hear of fanboys making fun of other consoles, but this must be the first time when someone saying the DS is as useless as a rock turned out to be literally true. A young boy went and got himself a new DS, and ended up with a handful of rocks instead when he went home and opened the packaging.
Luckily for him, he returned it for full refund and got an additional 20 dollars on a gift card.
Earlier this week, Nielsen Media Research had released console hardware usage statistics for 2008. Today, they have released a revised graph, showing the percentage of minutes each console commands through the calendar year. Most, if not all of the adjustments, came in the January 2009 area.
The revised statistics show that throughout most of 2009, the PS2 enjoyed a large lead in usage percentage, before losing most of it in January 2009. The Xbox 360 and whatever is in the 'Other' cate...
"In conjunction with the launch of the Nintendo DSi in the U.S., the Japan-based video game console company commissioned artist Sean Kenney to create a large Lego sculpture of its latest handheld. And, boy, did he make one.
The details on this scale model are simply amazing, right down to the stylus slot and power connector. In fact, if it wasn't for the person standing beside it in the picture, it'd be hard to tell that this isn't just a pixelated photograph of the DSi. If you want to see ..."
"The Nintendo DSi, a system featuring multi-media functionality and not one, but two a built-in cameras is Nintendo’s latest contribution to the world of portable gaming. The new console is a lot like a Nintendo DS Lite with some fancy bells and whistles which—er—doesn’t really make it a new handheld, per se. Semi-new, maybe?
Whatever.
The point is that there’s a question of whether people should keep their old DS or toss it to the curb in favor of a sexy new DSi. To make life easier, he..."
"Keeping abreast of modern technology is a constant battle with your conscience. Each month seems to bring a new gadget that does something ever so slightly better than a gadget you already own, and it's all too easy to get swept along with the hype and make purchases that aren't strictly necessary, only to rue your hasty choice when your credit card statement arrives some days later.
Nintendo's forthcoming DSi is a case in point. While it's far from being an all-new console, it does offer ..."
"Selecting a "winner" for each console generation is somewhat of a nonsensical engagement. Before even beginning to assess the merits of your sources of sales figures, release dates, review scores and other such relevant texts, you have to consider exactly what qualities a "winner" would possess. Would it be the largest quantity of widely renowned videogame releases of a high quality? Or that which had increased its library from the previous-generation to the greatest extent? Perhaps the defin..."
"Somewhere - perhaps in Chicago, maybe in Paris, possibly in Tokyo - the 100 millionth system in the NintendoDS franchise has been shipped to a distributor or a retailer as of March 6th, 2009. The combined total sales of 100 million NintendoDS systems, NintendoDS Lite systems and NintendoDSi systems represent a significant milestone in the life of this franchise, which is still going strong."
"Sunflex Europe GmbH, device and accessories producer for videogame consolles, has announced the Snakebyte line of accessories for the last consolle by Nintendo, the Nintendo DSi and DS.
These are the accessories:
* Crystal Case
* Silicon Case
* Extendable Metal Stylus (compatible with DSi and DS lite)
* Game cases (compatible with DSi and DS lite)
* Travel Pack (compatible with DSi and DS lite)
* Universal AC Adaptor (compatible with DSi and DS lite)
* ..."
So basically we've all heard about Nintendo releasing the Nintendo DSi soon and well, when is it's released date? It has been confirmed for the Spring. There might be a slight knotch, though as they change there.
As far as seen here in the interview, Matsushima has released to the world saying that the DSi will carry a menu similiar to the Wii (or not).
Many props to the DSi as far as we can tell, will be one of the best handheld systems that will carry on with Media Life. Camera with S...
"While gamers throughout the world are still buzzing about the impending release of the DSi in international markets, Nintendo gave a little present to its fans at home with the announcement of a new set of colors for Japan.
On March 20, the Japanese DSi lineup, currently limited to just black and white, will be boosted with Pink, Lime Green, and Metallic Blue offerings. These will carry the current price point of 18,900 yen."
Many have lambasted the DSi for supporting only AAC and very basic music playing features. But I've written a post to set things straight and you just might be convinced enough to save money with a DSi instead of an iPod Touch. And maybe even throw out your current MP3 collection for one encoded in AAC.
Nintendo has announced that the new Nintendo DS model, the Nintendo DSi, will be launching in the United States on April 5th, 2009, with a MSRP of $169.99. Two colors of the handheld will be available at launch: blue and black. The new features of the DSi include the Nintendo DSi Camera, the Nintendo DSi Sound, and the Nintendo DSi Shop, all already detailed before on GameGrep. You can view the official site for the Nintendo DSi here.
Also announced was the release date for Nintendo's u...
Videogamer is reporting the Nintendo DSi has been confirmed for a spring/summer launch in Europe, so presumably North America will get it around the same time, if not earlier.
In this article from PocketGamer, writer Fraser MacInnes asks: should handheld gaming go download only?
The soon coming Nintendo DSi is already about a 1/4 of the way there with DSWare, with the PSP to offer some full titles before long. The games are generally small in size -- is this inevitable? Share your thoughts.
The NPD Group has released their hardware and software numbers for the month of December, representing sales for the United States for the five week period of November 30th to January 3rd.
Notables this month:
Hardware numbers:
NDS: 3040.0k (608.0...
Sources that are close to Nintendo have told IGN that the DSi will release in America in April, probably the 4th. And the price for the American DSi will be $179.99. The new version of the DS has a camera, slots for SD cards, and bigger screens. The DSi is already released in Japan, and has sold one million units there. Still no European date, but Nintendo is saying Spring 2009.
UK retailer GAME has released sales statistics for the past year for the five current console and portable hardware systems, giving 2008 year-to-date and lifetime-to-date totals for each system. The numbers are cited from and confirmed by European sales tracker Gfk Chart Track.
2008 Year-to-Date:
NDS: 3.4 million
WII: 2.9 million
360: 1.4 million
PS3: 1.0 million
PSP: 0.6 million
Lifetime-to-Date:
NDS: 8.8 million
WII: 4.9 million
360: 3.2 million
PSP: 3.2 million
PS3: 1.9 ...
Lynk Former of twilightlynk.com blogs of their dislike of the the Nintendo DS alarm clock feature. I sure hope someone buys this person a proper alarm clock because if you're "so afraid of hearing it in the morning that I literally wake up every few hours" then you have some problems at hand.
"Sales of videogames hit an all-time high in 2008, according to ELSPA (the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) which today revealed annual sales figures from GFK Chart-Track. Total sales of all videogame software and hardware amounted to £4.034 billion. There was a huge increase in games sales in 2008, with growth of 23 percent on figures for 2007. The market has now more than doubled over the last five years. The increasing popularity of videogames took total sales to £..."
"For gamers who travel, handheld systems like the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable are lifesavers. A boring, lengthy flight is the perfect excuse for a focused gaming session. But what if you forgot to bring your handheld of choice? Well, that's what vending machines are for.
Spotted at Atlanta International Airport, these Best Buy Express vending machines offer a wide variety of electronics for travelers, including digital cameras and headphones. The most interesting thing to us ov..."
2008 had tons of crazy moments in the world of gaming, and EuroGamer has decided to run through the events that happened from July all the way to December. They include the E3 conferences, the new 160 GB PS3, and Wii Music.
To check out the months before, click here.
DSiWare, the downloadable games service for Nintendo's newest handheld, the Nintendo DSi, has launched in Japan, with thirteen downloadble titles available, ranging from the animation software Ugoku Memo Chou (Moving Memo Pad - Check out the stuff that's already been created) to new games in Nintendo's Art Style series.
For those who already own a DSi, a firmware upgrade is required to access the new DS Shop. You will also be given 1000 DSiWare Points when you connect. You can replenish ...
"There is nothing worse than wanting to listen to the fine music in your back catalogue of Nintendo DS games and being disappointed by how the full effect just cannot be garnered from merely relying on the system's stereo speakers. But what is the solution? Well, in most cases people will plump for a powerful pair of earphones, blasting the soundtrack right into their head, which is not always ideal, or pick up some cheap external docking station that horribly distorts the sound. Now, thankful..."
"Nintendo platforms appear to be in cruise control at the moment in Japan, easily outselling rival systems in the latest weekly hardware chart.
DSi was again the top seller during the week ended December 14, moving almost 50,000 units more than it managed the previous week."
Gamestop's reservation program helped a lot of gamers last year obtain Nintendo Wii's with its Reservation Program.
Last year, customers would pay upfront for a Wii console on Dec. 21. Then when the system arrived in stores, Gamestop would ship the Wii's to the people in January.
Now this year, there are shortages of DS Lites, so Gamestop is bringing back its Reservation Program.
Unfortunatley, this reservation program is USA exclusive.
Anyway I feel that this really isn't necess...
gamepolitics.com covers the event of the suing of Nintendo in due to a faulty DS adapter, following the recent article of being sued for dangerous Wii controllers. All up it adds to a whopping total of $236,304, all due to a fire.
Electronic Theatre delivers the news of a raid in Cardiff resulting in the discovery 1,800 infringing game copying devices and the apprehension of a man in his early 20s.
"Sony and third party publishers neglected to add many games to the PSP's software library in the second half of 2008. Nintendo calmed its usually aggressive handheld release schedule this year as well, allowing, atypically, third party publisher to shine with content as diverse as "Lock's Quest," "Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword," lots of Square-Enix role-playing games and Activision's unstoppable line of "Guitar Hero: On Tour" games."
"Colour Cross is effectively another rendition of the classic Puzzle game Picross. Having already seen a release on the NintendoDS in the form of PicrossDS as part of Nintendos Touch Generations! series, Little Worlds Studio have had to add an extra layer of depth to their offering..."
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"This latest lifestyle software designed exclusively for the NintendoDS comes with two specially designed pedometers called Activity Meters which measure your daily steps minute by minute. Slim and convenient, the Activity Meter will fit into your bag or pocket as you walk and will measure your activity through the day..."
Back in November, we received the shocking news of a mass Nintendo DS theft in Sweden. This cargo, sadly, has still not been found... most likely sold off by now.
Nintendo has put to sea another set as had been hoped for. The 10,000 kronor reward has now been upped to no less than 85,000. Hopefully that'll get them back, or at least some more information.
Electronic Theatre delivers the news of DTP Entertainment's remake of The Great Giana Sisters for NintendoDS, due for launch in July 2009. The Giana Sisters first appeared on home computers as a rival to Super Mario Bros...
"Fake games consoles and adaptors are potentially putting Christmas consumers lives in danger, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) warned today. Hundreds of imported counterfeit games consoles seized at UK freight depots were found to have been supplied with potentially dangerous power adaptors. The goods had been purchased from a range of websites..."
"Games industry trade body ELSPA (the Entertainment Leisure & Software Publishers Association) today urged parents looking to purchase video and computer games for Christmas to always check the game's packaging for the PEGI (Pan European Game Information) age ratings and content descriptors. PEGI age ratings appear on game packaging and are intended to protect children and help the public make informed choices when buying games for children. ELSPA believes..."
You may remember when it was first announced that the existing DS homebrew cartridges would not work with the DSi. Well Acekard has created the first working DSi Homebrew cart. Named the Acekard 2i - it promises to work with the DSi, as well as the DS, while retaining all the functionality of the existing carts.
And yes, it will run Linux, as well as a slew of other homebrew applications.
Check out the other videos after the jump, as well as some great links in the alternate source (via...
"Rising Star Games packed NintendoDS line-up has hit a slow patch this week, as it has just been confirmed that todays expected release, Colour Cross, will not arrive in UK stores until next Friday, December 5th, 2008.
The delay has apparently been caused in the manufacturing process. With the NintendoDS Game Cards being..."
"The person that placed the ads is trying to shift a DS that does not power up for £60 and a PSP for £75 that has a hole in the disc door and scratches on the screen."
The camera is one of the new features to enjoy with the new handheld console developed by Nintendo, the DSi.
It's a simple addition, used for the taking of and editing photos. One person has found a somewhat naughty yet humurous way of using it featured in the video below.
Sweden may not have a very merry Christmas after a theft occurred in Sweden. No less than two trailers full of Nintendo DS units have been stolen from Gothenburg Harbour. Police are saying they suspect it was an inside job. Curiously, the two they took contained red, black and white Nintendo DS. There are no definite numbers, but it is estimated to be around seven thousand.
What made the police think it's an inside? Well there were an awful lot of trailers there and they just happened to p...
The lovely Liv Tyler has been one very active female lately, after doing such things as starring in The Incredible Hulk.
She's now appearing in a Nintendo DS advertisement on television for the game MillionHeir. During this she admitted she'd never played a video game before and that it was quite fun.
Want more video game playing celebrities?
Video game ratings are regulated in the United States by the federal government. With the presidential elections in the US coming tomorrow, you could be seeing some changes in how the ratings system on video games is done. With Obama last playing Pong, and McCain never playing a game (nor can he even check his e-mail, check article for video), almost anything can happen.
With the recent release of the Nintendo DSi in Japan this week, hackers went to work to test the homebrew capabilities of the new system.
They unfortunately discovered that all of the current aftermarket homebrew cartridges and techniques do not work on the new DSi.
No official word from the Homebrew community as to new hardware or new developments, but you can rest assured that there are plenty of teams out there trying to crack this puzzle.
Some of your may remember Nintendo's hints as to what not to do with your Wii, but they've came back for another round, this time telling us what not to do with your DSi.
Just what exactly do Nintendo think we get up to ?
Nintendo's latest iteration of the Nintendo DS, the DSi, has officially launched in Japan for a price of 18,900 yen. Japanese newssite Impress Watch reports that a line of 400 strong was seen at BIC Camera in Ikebukuro. Dengeki Online is also reporting strong showings in Akihabara, at Asobitcity and Sofmap.
The DSi is slated for a 2009 release in North America and Europe. Check out more pictures at the sources.
Benjamin Cormack of gotgame.com has made a blog after the recent announcement of the new DSi. He doesn't sound very happy, stating "The DSi is not what I would call a worthy successor to the DS". He then decided to make a list of what would make him happy.
This included such aspects as bigger screens, better sound because "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor do six holes make a speaker!", the option for batteries to be removed for recharging or just your normal batteries, an inbuilt bala...
"Castlevania series
Console: GB, GBA
Notables: Aria of Sorrow, Circle of the Moon
Castlevania, the medieval action-adventure series by Konami, has produced multiple top of the line games. The PS1 installment, Symphony of the Night, is considered to be one of the greatest games of all time. Konami tried to re-create this success with multiple handheld releases, but none of them came close until they released Aria of Sorrow. The 2003 GBA hit incorporated many of the same platforming and RPG..."
Matthew Gallant, of the site gangles, has typed up the history of the famous A and B buttons! Taking a look at Nintendo, Sega, Microsoft and Sony.
It starts from the revolution that was the NES controller with the break away from the joystick fad to the DS where the article's author was shocked to find it A and B instead of B and A. Though the basic functions have been kept the same, designs have changed. Sega and Microsoft consoles have been similar, also using the A and B theme. Yes Sony...
"This newly christened DSi is an obvious member of the DS family, with its stylus and minimalist clamshell design, but Nintendo would seemingly like us to believe that it is a wholly different animal.
Even amid insistence that the system has a place alongside the DS Lite on American retail shelves, at least for the foreseeable future, Ill wager that many, like me, cant help but wonder if this device will prove to be the new face of mobile gaming. And, if so, wouldnt it be prudent to get ..."
3 days ago we worried about the DSi being region locked. Well, in a statement given to CVG, Nintendo has confirmed that the DSi will be region locked.
The region lock will only apply to future DLC and DSi specific games. You will still be able to play DS region free games, however.
Elaborating on previous news, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aimé (sometimes affectionately referred to as 'The Reginator'), stated in an X-Play interview the DSi will not come to North America until the next fiscal year, meaning not until at least April.
For those who don't have a Lite yet, will you be waiting?
It could very well be acredited to the global credit crunch, however it seems unlikely that after Nintendo's unvieling of the latest DS iteration - The Nintendo DSi the shares of Nintendo didn't increase, but plunged by 3.7%
Just a casual step back from the behemoth of facts, figures, and announcements from the Nintendo Fall Press Conference- to examine the simpler, lighter hearted aspect of their Nintendo DS.
And what better to do that than a cute kitten playing what appears to be Final Fantasy IV.
From the Nintendo Fall Press Conference last night, there are new pictures of the Nintendo's newly announced Nintendo DSi, which is set to hit Japanese shelves on November 1st for 18900 yen. It will feature larger screens, a camera, a new OS, and more multimedia-capable features.
Hit the source for the rest of the pictures and screens.
[Nintendo Fall Press Conference 2008 Official Thread]
Joystick goes through the specs side by side of the new handheld market; including the newly announced Nintendo DSi, the new PSP-3000, and the new iPod Touch
"Nintendo will announce a new, updated version of its DS console at a press conference tomorrow morning, MCV has learnt.
According to our impeccable source in Japan, Satoru Iwata will make the announcement at 5am UK time as first predicted by MCV last month.
Little is known about the machine's exact extra functions, but we do know the product will be the multimedia model mentioned by Nikkei this week with an MP3 player and camera function."
Can England achieve an entry in the Guiness Book of World Records? They certainly think so, with the Nintendo DS!
DS: London group have made a partnership with London Games Festival Fringe to attempt a new world record. The plan is to try and cram as many Nintendo DS players as possible into the one room. With a venue already booked, they now simply need to find 400-500 willing participants of any age from across England.
The current world record is 381 people. In order to achieve a new...
Nintendo DS has a new limited edition look! This one isn't just for the sales, it's main goal is to raise funds. The Nintendo DS is selling with a pink ribbon design in an attempt to help with the fight against breast cancer. It's called the "Pink Ribbon" DS and they plan to donate a minimum of $5 to charity for every unit sold.
The KORG DS-10, if you haven't heard about this baby already, is essentially the famous Korg MS-10 synth packed into your DS. And if you don't know what a synth is, it's a music making electronic tool which generates and combines signals of different frequencies to make new sounds. In short, think terrible 80's music, except here it doesn't have to be terrible. This is definitely one title you're going to want to hook your speakers up to your DS for.
Anyhow, the Guardian got ahold of the ...
"It's an odd statistic, yes, but also an interesting one! The Financial Times have looked at some of the world's top-earning companies, and worked out how much cash each generates per capita (ie divide the total profit by the total number of employees). Each worker at money grubbers Goldman Sachs, for example, is worth $1.24 million. Google employees can "only" manage $626,000. But Nintendo employees? Every one of the 3000 workers at Nintendo Towers generates $1.6 million. Yes, even the tea lady."
"A shiny finger print nightmare. Here's a first look at the actual Club Nintendo "Premium" DS Lites announced last July. It comes with a groovy pouch too, it seems. There are only 3,000 of these cover plated "Premium" DS Lites: 1,000 Premium Silver; 1,000 Premium Black; 1,000 Premium Rose. These are actually the standard-in-Japan "Gloss Silver", "Jet Black" and "Metallic Rose" DS Lites treated with a special metallic plating cover. Club Nintendo members interested in snagging one of these need..."
Flippin' sweet week to be a DS owner, and well, if you're reading this (as in, on a PC), it's also a good time to be a gamer. Spore comes out for the DS and PC, sports fans get NHL 2K9 and NHL '09 to choose from on all consoles, and DS owners also get Viva Pinata, the fabulously old school RPG Mazes of Fate (finally!), another interesting looking RPG Lock's Quest, a new color for the system, and more.
Analyst Jesse Divnich says that Sony is in trouble this holiday season with the PS3, after the 360 got a recent price cut. The PS3 is the console with the highest price, and the smallest video game library. Meanwhile the Wii and DS are still largely outselling the other systems.
Japan's game and hardware sales from last week have been revealed, with Rhythm Tengoku Gold, a Ninteno DS game, coming first. One of the newest additions to the Japanese market, Afrika, came in second with 38,000 units sold. Rounding out the top five is J-League Winning Eleven 2008 Club Championship for the PS2, PSP Fate/Tiger Colosseum Upper for the PSP, and Wii Fit.
Over on the hardware side, the DS Lite sold the most, reaching over 56,000 units! Second was the PSP with 41k new owners, ...
"September 4, 2008 - Last month, tech outlets all over the web were abuzz with reports of an upcoming Nintendo DS refresh. The reports indicated that sources outside of Nintendo had leaked information that a new DS redesign was on the horizon and would include dual touch screen functionality. Initial reactions were skeptical, however, we're hearing now that a refresh is indeed inbound and should be debuting in April or May of 2009.
Additionally, we've learned that the revised DS will not on..."
"In some venues, silver is the color of second place. For Nintendo DS, silver is No. 1. Starting Sept. 7, Metallic Silver joins the Nintendo DS color palette. The new Metallic Silver version makes a nice addition to any tech collection, whether you're a gadget hipster or fashionista. Watch for the Metallic Silver DS to be featured in the new upcoming Nintendo DS print ad featuring actress Liv Tyler."
"While were waiting with bated breath for a possible new updated Nintendo DS model that has been rumored, we thought we would take a look at some of our favorite DS mods. Like the Wii, modders love to spice up Nintendos boring design and put their own personal touches on the device. Some are weird, some are awesome, some will make you wonder whats in the modders local water supply, but all are creative.
"
"The Japanese firm expects Wii sales to rise 42 percent to 26.5 million units during the year ending March 31, and software sales to increase 56 percent to 186 million units, reports Bloomberg.
Nintendo also reversed projections that DS sales will drop, estimating 30.5 million unit sales during the current fiscal year, and a 6.1 percent rise in software sales to 197 million units.
Net income is forecast to jump 59 percent to 410 billion yen ($3.8 billion), operating profit by 23 percent ..."
Last week in Japan Xbox 360 sales went up, with the release of the game Tales of Vesperia and 24,962 console sales, but this week the 360 has suffered at a mere 7,358 sales. Because of the drop in 360 sales this week, the PS3 beat the 360 at 11,393 sales from 9,673 sales. However the Wii is doing better then the two of them combined; it is at 53,036 sales this week from 38,506 last week. The DS has 78,666 sales this week, and the PSP has 64,413.
"Nintendo of America sales and marketing boss Cammie Dunaway has revealed that the company was disappointed with its showing at this year's E3 Media and Business Summit, which drew criticism from some sections of the gaming community, notably core gamers.
"I would say the message is we were disappointed with our performance at E3," Dunaway told VGChartz. "There were titles like Wario which we think will be really fun titles that we should have showcased.
"We were excited that Mr. Miyamot..."
"Those homebrewer's are it again - here's a look at MenuDo XMBLite which gives the DS a PS3 style XMB look...
"
After a leave of absence this year, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced that the British Academy Video Games Awards will be returning March of 2009. The award ceremony will be on March 10th at the London Hilton, Park Lane.
So far, there have been 13 categories revealed for the show. Some include Action & Adventure, Artistic Achievement, and their newest category: Handhelds. The goal of the awards is to "support, develop and promote the art forms of the moving imag...
Last year, the NPD group surveyed over 11,000 people about how much time they play and spend on games. After that, they would break it down. They took another survey earlier this year, this time asking 20,000 people ages 2 through 99 to talk about their purchases and gaming "from approximately November 2007 through January 2008."
According to the results, the 'young heavy' are the largest group, taking up 22% of the gaming population. Young Heavy gamers lean toward the handhelds, with at l...
In a press release today, Nintendo announced a new limited edition DS Lite, that will feature the two Pokémon Diamond and Pearl cover legendaries, Dialga and Palkia, on an Onyx DS Lite. This new DS Lite will also come packaged with an animated episode based on Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Darkness, a carrying case featuring Dialga and Palkia, and a mini-poster.
The new DS Lite will go on sale August 17, for a retail price of $129.99.
Many analysts seem to think that the the DS is ready to step down and DS 2 (of some sort) should step into the limelight as soon as this year.
The DS certainly has enjoyed some good time on the market, but it is not nearly finished.
However, Nintendo could take a page out of Sony's book (read: PS2 and PS3), and launch a new system while still keeping the older one on the market and still with products in development.
It is the 2% rule gone horribly wrong (which begs the question if it can ever be right in the first place?) Nintendo is suiting up and taking action against the R4 and other DS homebrew cartridges. When will they realize that there are legitimate uses to this cartridge. Just because some people use it for illegal activity doesn't make the device illegal. Knives have many legitimate uses, but knives can kill people. We don't sue the knife makers though.
If I have purchased a piece of equipm...
Nintendo has released their Q1 Financial Report [PDF] for this year, reporting astronomical numbers, with an operating income of 119.19 billion yen (USD ~1.1 billion), net sales of 423.38 billion yen (USD ~3.9 billion), and a net income of 107.26 billion yen (USD ~0.99 billion). The quarter ended June 30, 2008.
The video game giant also reports lifetime sales of 29.62 million Wiis and 77.54 million DSs worldwide as of June 30. The report also notes Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Ti...
Gameloft, who publishes and develops games for mobile devices, the DS, and other things, have announced their results for the first half of 2008. As it turns outs, Gameloft has made 50.3 million Euros, that's 10% more than they made last year! Most of their sales came from mobile games which accumulated 94% of the sales, while everything else only accumulated 6%.
Trading standards officers in the UK have discovered vast amounts of dangerous chargers for the Nintendo DS/Gameboy are available online and in shops, dangerous here meaning overheating or electrocution; one person has died from usage. Another problem is some of them carry a CE safety mark which the officers believe to be fake.
A warning has been issues and the officers are attempting to recall the chargers.
"Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with series creators Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be available on the Nintendo DS in North America and Europe this winter.
"This is a game that will deliver a rich, fast-paced and intense 'Grand Theft Auto' experience that will be truly unique to Nintendo's handheld platform," sa..."
The R4 card, as well as N5, M3, and TT cards, allow gamers with a DS to download games illegally and play them on the DS. John Hillier, ELSPA's Crime Unit Manager, said that if retailers (Amazon, eBay) don't stop selling these cards, they will have no choice but to take legal action against them. Nintendo has said that they are monitoring the R4 situation.
"Nintendo UK has received an overwhelmingly positive response to its new range of DS colours and in-store DS centres, the firm has told MCV.
Nintendo released its Red, Green and Turquoise DS SKUs last week, along with new in-store centres that allows consumers to download demos of DS software onto their console. And Nintendo has told MCV that its all about offering extra choice and opportunities to consumers."
Tokyo's Joshi Gakuen all-girls junior high school are using Nintendo's handheld console as a learning device to teach English to the students. Students have to spell out English words out on the DS, some of which include "hamburger" and "cola". Many students like it, including Chigusa Matsumoto, who is 12. She said that it's fun using the DS in class.
"As more and more DS Lite colors are released, many of the last holdouts are finally upgrading to a DS Lite. For some, this means being the proud owner of not one, but two handhelds... which begs the question of just what to do with the extra. If you're struggling with this epic conundrum, you might be interested in some of our suggestions of just how to handle that whole extra handheld situation. Whether your secondary system is an old Phat, or a Lite you've jilted in favor of a new color, th..."
"A full list of Nintendo DS Centres currently in operation can be found at http://ms.nintendo-europe.com/dscentre/index.html and the list will be updated as more go live. In-store demo games for anyone to play at a DS Centre right now include Sight Training, Nintendogs, Big Brain Academy, New Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda; Phantom Hourglass and Animal Crossing: Wild World. Downloadable titles DS owners can play on their own DS consoles currently include Brain Training, Sight Training, ..."
"With the now scaled-down E3 event set to take place next month, all eyes are firmly focused on each of the big three companies to see what special treats they will be bringing to the table. Rumours are pointing towards Nintendo bringing out an all-new franchise that will shock gamers considerably.
Previously it had been touched up by Nintendo of Americas president Reginald Fils-Aime that something big was coming at this years E3 media event, stating to Geoff Keighley of GameTrailers back..."
The May 2008 NPD numbers have been recently released, and by the looks of it, the numbers overall were below people's expectations, with hardware and software numbers decreasing since last month. Many thanks for sonycowboy at NeoGAF and the NPD Group for making the numbers available. The tracking period was a four week period, from May 4th to May 31st.
May only saw one major release: the ever-popular Wii Fit from Nintendo. The focus this month came on Grand Theft Auto IV, Mario Kart W...
"Nintendo Wii with the popular Wii Sports game (bowling, boxing, baseball, tennis and golf) for £179.98 and delivered free in the UK.
Buy Now
Nintendo DS for £99.98 and delivered free in the UK.
Buy Now
You can get the Nintendo DS with a selected game together for only £109.99."
Well Forbes certainly think so. With Ubisoft adding signing up to develop games for Apple's hand-held devices, it seems that Forbes believe that the iPod could (and to quote) "kill the success of the DS". With the iPod capable of doing so much as it is, there appears to be a high chance that Apple may just create something that will give the Nintendo DS (and thus the Playstation Portable) a run for it's money.
Nintendo has been selective with what regions get which colours for the DS, so anyone in Europe still thinking about purchasing a DS may be happy to know the Red, Turquoise and Green versions will be headed your way next month.
Information has been released by Konami regarding their new DS entry into the famed Castlevania series, titled Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, confirming the speculation. Included in the information are details of the new female protagonist, Shanoa, as well as a vague note about the new Glyph Battle System, (flaunted to be capable of up to one hundred different special attacks). Also confirmed is the use of the DS's WiFi capabilities not only to trade items and equipment between players, but ...
The NPD Group recently released their tracked sales numbers for April 2008, for the four week tracking period that ends on May 3rd, 2008. Many thanks to sonycowboy at NeoGAF and the NPD Group for the numbers.
April saw the release of two major games: Grand Theft Auto IV, which shattered industry records, and Mario Kart Wii, the latest installment in Nintendo's Mario Kart franchise. You would think that there would be strong sales all around for the three current generation consoles, but ...
With it's low price and mass market appeal, the Nintendo DS is continuing to be the more popular choice in the portable gaming market. Sony shouldn't feel too bad, but I wonder how they can predict a turnaround at this point? Well, according to Sony Europe's president David Reeves, the PSP needs more games to be released for it here in the West. If Sony is ever going to gain ground on the DS, it needs alot more big name releases.
"The charger bracelet has a cable with an interchangeable tip that allows it to work with both handhelds and a number of other portable electronics. I suppose being multifunctional might make the 4,980 yen ($48) price tag more acceptable.
However, to get any use out of the charge bracelet you have to remember to charge it in a USB port, carry around the correct tip and wear it."
PSP Blogger takes an interesting look at the future of handhelds and consoles. Will the high prices and growing complexity of consoles force the average gamer to turn to handhelds? Or will gamers stick to their beloved consoles, no matter how expensive or complex?
PSP Blogger believes that in the future, gamers will purchase a PSP or DS, rather then choosing between many different (and expensive) versions of the Xbox 360 and PS3. Handheld purchases are just so much easier.
Ever wondered what the top gaming characters with the munchies could be? Well GameGirl have posted up on there blog there Top 7 Gaming Characters with the Munchies (with the help of Tim-kun). The selection ranges from the old and the new with Crash Bandicoot, Donkey Kong and even a bit of King Dedede being involved. Follow the source to find out the full list.
Remember how we said The Sims series has sold over 100 million units globally? DS software in Japan alone has matched that mark, effectively meaning nearly every person in the country (there are 127,433,494 of them) has at least one DS game -- talk about a gaming culture!
Looks like the rumour isn't true about Nintendo upgrading the DS. Speaking in response to Enterbrain's chief Hirokazu Hamamura's comments about having "insider info" on the redesign, Nintendo Japan's head of PR flat-out denied it:
"We cannot comment on the specifics of what will be announced at E3, but at the very least there won't be anything like what Mr. Hamamura suggested, so would like to clearly deny this. We're having a hard time understanding what kind of evidence [Mr. Hamamura] ha...
With 7 Consoles currently battling (somewhat) for a piece of the Gaming Market, it's always good to learn what games have come out top for each... and well, Video Games Blogger has brought us just that. A list of the top 5 games that have been sold in each of the regions and each of the consoles. I'll give you the top for the XBOX360 and PS3 (since they seem to be the more interesting ones), but be sure to check out the source for the sales for the other 5 systems.
Just to note, these sale...
A lot of DS owners probably think the system is just about perfect. Well, speculation says Nintendo could be thinking differently, and maybe you will too after seeing the mock-up pictured here (a few design issues aside).
"THQ executive Jack Sorenson has branded the hardware battle between Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo as "totally irrelevant", arguing that the rewards offered by each represent a "win" for games publishers.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz last week at THQ's product showcase in San Francisco, the US publisher's head of worldwide studios said there was "too much of an emphasis on the sports aspect of who's winning and losing", and that his company was focusing on opportunities rather than installe..."
The PSP might be making a comeback in Japan thanks to Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G. In the last week, it's sold over twice as many units as the DS at a solid 129,986 units. The PS2 also seems to be competing well with its successor, having sold just under one thousand units less than the PS3. Nintendo's still going strong in Japan, and the 360 is... Well, struggling as always.
These days, fasion craze hits everything. Fashion label Bathing Ape (Bape) and Nintendo have got together to release the Limited Edition Bape DS Lite with a Bape and Mario design. The problem is, the cost. It's originally set to be sold at ¥16800, but now it's risen to a whopping ¥44940. And it's also only available in Japan currently.
On eBay, it's available for a quite generous $599 a piece.
Atari have released a up to date version of current release dates that they have scheduled for there up and coming titles. Such titles include Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit for the Xbox 360 Playstation 3. The new updated list is as followed;
Well according to a French retailer, YES!.
Why is it he come to this conclusion..? Well over the last week a few images have appeared over the Internet that shows the release schedule of the French retailer and on that schedule you can clearly see that GTA:IV is stated to be released on the Nintendo DS.
Maybe this may be a hoax but as Rockstar have previously released a Gameboy edition, anything is possible.
In an interview to That Video Game Blog, Sandy Duncan, the man who set up and ran the European Xbox business for Microsoft believes that this generation of gaming will be the last for home consoles users (including handheld's) and from this says it will die out in the next 5-10 years and this is mainly based on the costs of new hardware being incredibly high at the moment and the fact that they will keep on rising.
"While Nintendo's 2007 success now seems like a foregone conclusion, it wasn't always so. In 2005, Electronic Entertainment Expo attendees who'd been wowed by the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 unveilings left Nintendo's press conference shaking their heads after being shown a nonfunctional mock-up of a tiny console code-named "Revolution." When that device was renamed the "Wii" in 2006, doubt became incredulity--until Nintendo showed off the console's motion-sensing remote at an E3 event that was..."
Electronic Arts have released there predictions on the up coming years total Hardware sales and believe whilst the Nintendo Wii will lead it with 12-14 million sales, The Playstation 3 will sell more hardware then the Xbox 360 by 3.5 million over North America and Europe. In other news they have also predicted the Handheld sector by predicting that the Nintendo DS will sell 8 million/ or 2-1 more units then the Playstation Portable over the following year.
Sounds like a successful year for...
Any frequent visitor here at GameGrep is bound to remember this. Well, now we can be sure that it didn't sound right at all. ELSPA UK has denied that they made that statement. They say it was a false post made based on an article on a Singapore website.
We already know that Nintendo is currently leading in the current console war. This week's Famitsu magazine seems to confirm this. When asked about what systems and games retailers expect to have the toughest time keeping in stock due to the high demands of the public this holiday season, Nintendo products such as Wii Fit and the Nintendo DS Lite topped the list.
Electronic Art's has released additional information about their up and coming title FIFA Streets 3 for the Nintendo DS by offering a new insight to a mini game that allows players to try out possible kick up skills in order to practice for training towards the big game. The Nintendo DS title will also be including a special African stage exclusively apart from the Playstation 3 and 360 version to try and bring sales in.
Gizmodo's very own expert Jason Chen had done a "8 Reasons Why The PSP Might Overtake the DS" a while ago with worthwhile arguments for it though when read by this critic who then changed as he did not agree with it, so he generated his own "8 Reasons why The PSP Will Never Overtake The DS". Enjoy.
For additional reasons, follow the source.
"We like to hear people scream at us. Unfortunately, it has been a long while since anyone's actually done it. To compensate, the editors of all three IGN Editorial offices (US, UK, and Australia) got together and decided that it was time to revisit one of the most controversial topics in our business...
Our criteria for creating this list of our picks for the Top 100 Games of All Time are as follows:
-Eligible games had to have been released no later than December 31, 2006 (perspective ..."
"Nintendo has ripped up the record books, with its DS handheld last week selling over 191,000 units, according to official ChartTrack data more than any other hardware format has ever achieved in a seven-day period.
Nintendo revealed the news to MCV this morning, with a spokesperson offering: Were obviously delighted to be able to announce this. Momentum has been increasing on DS sales and to achieve the highest weekly sales figure ever in the history of the games market is fantastic.
..."
The 5th annual Video Game Awards on Spike TV are almost here. And Kotaku has a list of all the nominees. The award show will be aired on Decembe 9th at pm on Spike TV.
Game of the year nominees are:
BioShock
Halo 3
Mass Effect
The Orange Box
Best PS3 Game
Heavenly Sword
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Warhawk
Best Wii Game
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Paper Mario
Best ...
Nintendo released their Half-Year Financial Report [PDF, both JP and EN respectively] for Fiscal Year 07, posting a net income of 132.421 billion JPY (1.15 billion USD) for the six month period ending September 30, 2007
Nintendo's net sales for the first half of this fiscal year amount to 694.803 billion JPY (6.08 billion USD), a 132.5% increase over the previous year at this time (298.817 billion JPY/2.62 billion USD). The operating income results in 188.784 billion JPY (1.65 billion USD...
So, Nintendo sent out new PR, detailing their new release schedule. Unfortunately, that includes Brawl on Feb. 10
However, there are some very amusing and hidden gems. Assassin's Creed apparently is set to be released February '08, and Advance Wars: Days of Ruin will be releasing on January 21st. There are some delays, including February 4th for Professor Layton (originally Dec. 3). It is shaping up to be a great end of '07/early '08.
Take note that this is a partial list. Most not...
There's a new channel coming to Japanese Wiis next month called Minna no Nintendo Channel, which translates to "Everybody's Nintendo Channel." One of the features of the channel will allow you to download demos and videos of upcoming games for your Nintendo DS using the DS-to-Wii connectivity, rather than having to travel to a game store with a DS download station.
Did you know that the last time Nintendo was on top with hardware sales for both consoles and portables was 1994? That's right, 13 years ago, when the Super Nintendo and GameBoy controlled the market. Now it's 2007, and both the Wii and DS are on top.
The Wii has had an outstanding 9 months on the market, selling over 10.5 million consoles. On the portable side, the DS continues to plow through the competition. It has sold almost 50 million since it's launch in November 2004. Nintendo rea...
"The NPD Group released videogame hardware and software sales data for July and, yet again, Nintendo dominated the charts. Amazingly, Wii and DS together outsold final figures for PlayStation 2, PSP, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 combined. Nintendo's two systems have held the number one and two top slots in the hardware sales charts for nine months running.
For the first time since its launch, Wii outsold consistent performer DS. Nintendo's home console was the best-selling hardware in July wi..."
A couple weeks ago there was a leak about a new color for the DS Lite. It's a crimson-onyx Lite that is bundled with Brain Age 2. Here's another piece of good news: It's being released on August 21st in Canada AND the United States (originally only thought to be released in Canada). For only $149.99, you can buy the newest Lite and the newest Brain Game with a carrying case.
"The ¥1,480 Yen (about $12 USD) device allows you to snap your DS Lite into a slightly raised cradle and at an angle indeal for copious amounts of stylus tip-tapping. The stand (which is available in either black or white) can then be secured to any flat surface thanks to the suction cups on its base.
Of course, the thing is almost completely useless if you want to take your Nintendo DS anywhere in it, so to save yourself the embarrassment of oddly bulging pockets, GamerSquad recommends kee..."
Following their enourmous success with the Wii and the DS sales this year, Nintendo have raised their forecast for the end of the year after realising that their consoles have surpassed the initial saes expectations they predicted.
Currently the new predictions for the Wii and the DS are 16 million and 26 million units to be sold by the end of this year. This is up form previous predictions of 14 and 22 million.
CVG has come up with a little article on Nintendo's profits and how it's doing with sales. Turns out they're making more money than Mario games. First, Nintendo's first-quarter results of 2007 show a 416% rise in profits. Second, the Wii has reached 9.27 million sales worldwide with the DS raking in a whopping 47.27 million sales. Nintendo has also increased their shipment for the Wii from 14 million to 16.5 million and the DS from 22 million to 26 million because of high demand.
Games Radar has tallied up the stats of the first half of the 2007 year to see who's winning the console war in 2007 alone. Using stats from Janruary to June, this is what they came up with. The DS is dominating with 2.7 million sales and the Wii is not far behind with 2.1 million. The Xbox 360 and PSP are tied at 1.3 million each and the PS3 trails far behind with 763,000 sales.
They also got the top 10 game sales for the first half of the year and 6 of the top 10 are for Nintendo, the P...
"To capitalize on this already inherent system capability, Buffalo will be releasing the Buffalo Wi-Fi Gamer device in the US next month, and the company stopped by our office to show how it works. This wireless adapter, about the size of a pack of cards, doesn't need a PC at all - it simply plugs into an available port on an existing LAN. Once connected, you just press the "connect" button on the unit, then the AOSS function on the DS, PSP, PS3 and Wii, and after about 45 seconds of syncing u..."
In a chance for Nintendo to advance the areas of the gaming market they have pondered on taking on the role of creating "Therapy Games", in there view of creating "Games for Everyone". They plan on expanding the Nintendogs saga by creating games based on Dolphins and Tigers to add more of a taste. They also plan on creating games for the consoles for the younger females (8-14) in different role playing games And finally they also plan on games that will improve your vocabulary by doing multip...
"DS owners will be able to power up their portables during MLB games to enjoy up-to-the-minute statistics and trivia, watch a live streaming feed of the game in progress, and even order food and drinks to be brought directly to where they are sitting. Mad."
Nintendo is always trying to appeal to a new gaming audience, and this time it's no exception. If you bring your DS or DS Lite to a Seattle Mariner's game in Safeco Field, you're in for a treat. For a one-time fee of $5, you'll be able to order food, watch the live television feed of the game, watch instant replays, or even access stats and scores and play trivia ... all from the comfort of your seat. (no matter where you are seated in the stadium)
A Uruguayan Civil Court Judge recently ordered a major counterfeiter of Nintendo video game products to pay Nintendo $2,500,000 in damages and legal expenses. The Court determined that the offender and three of his related corporations, were responsible for the sale and distribution of tens of thousands of counterfeit Nintendo products.
In 2001, the National Board of Intelligence raided four retail shops and a warehouse, seizing seven truck loads of counterfeit Nintendo video game products...
According to Famitsu's Japanese game sales report for the month of June, the DS console product line continues to take top honors in Japan, netting sales of over 500,000 units for its fifthteen consecutive month. Second place on the June hardware sales chart also went to Nintendo for the Wii. Nintendo's hardware sales are believed to be a major factor in increasing Japanese game industry sales by 25 percent but the company's competitors, not to mention a 7.5 percent growth in game sales, al...
"Namco Bandai, Sega of Japan and Capcom are all shifting their development support to Nintendo's Wii and DS, according to a report on Variety Asia.
Leading the change in priorities is Namco Bandai, which intends to up its Nintendo output by 109 per cent with a massive 115 titles scheduled for fiscal 2007."
For the month of May, Nintendo once again held the North American video game industry sales in the palm of its hand. According to the May sales figures released by NPD, Nintendo's DS remained the top selling console at 423,000 units. The Wii manged to take second place with sales of 338,000 consoles. Sony's PlayStation Portable meanwhile managed to the beat the rest of its next-generation brethren with sales of 221,120 units compared to the 154,900 Xbox 360s and 81,600 PlayStation 3 consol...
"Two touch screens. This is pretty much a given -- how many people have seen players instinctively want to tap the upper screen with the stylus in the same fashion as the lower screen? Two touch screens open up potential for different styles of game designs. So does:
More sensitive touch technology. The Apple iPhone has it, the Microsoft Surface has it...the next Nintendo DS will have it. The current DS can only sense one specific location on the screen, meaning you really can't use multipl..."
N'Gai Croal's LevelUp posts an opinion piece from SportsBlogNation president (and brother of Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski) Tyler Bleszinski regarding the emergence of a new gaming market fostered by Nintendo's Wii and DS. While the media in general has been singing praises of both consoles in making gaming relevant outside of the traditional gaming market, Bleszinski feels their success in drawing a new breed of (non)gamers could become a double-edged sword. On one hand, expanding...
Wow. These consoles are smoking hot! We all know that there have been some ugly looking consoles made but most of the time these consoles get remade eventually. This list goes over the top ten best looking consoles. Definitely worth checking out. I just love the Panasonic Q GameCube.
Nintendo announces its Wi-Fi Connection for the DS console has reached two new milestones recently. Since its launch back in November 2005, the userbase for Nintendo's wireless gaming service has grown to over 5 million unique owners. Additionally, these users have logged over 200 million gameplay sessions. According to Nintendo's press release, the top five DS games supporting the Wi-Fi Connection worldwide are Animal Crossing: Wild World, Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime Hunters, and the rec...
For those of you in North America who are looking for that "sweet loot" that only seems to be obtainable in Japan wait no further. I just got word that Play-Asia is now offering a limited edition version of the DS Lite which is 'themed' with the latest Final Fantasy game for the DS; Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings.
The DS is white in color with the FFXII logo and a few of the Revenant Wings characters on the top of the DS Lite.
Within the box you get:
1x Nintendo DS Lite; Final Fan...
The North American game hardware and software sales data for April 2007, compiled by market research firm NPD Group, highlight the continuing strength of Nintendo's flagship consoles. Nintendo's DS ruled the hardware roost last month, selling 471,000 consoles. Although the Wii has garnered a reputation for its shortages, the console still managed to take second place with 360,000 units sold.
Sony's PlayStation 3 didn't fare as well, finishing behind the Xbox 360 with 82,000 units sold co...
In yet another eBay auction this time for a normal, non modded Nintendo DS which has been autographed by Shigeru Miyamoto (Zelda, Mario creator), Satoru Iwata (President of Nintendo), and Charles Martinet (the voice of Mario).
The money from this item will go towards the charity Childs Play. At the moment the highest bid is only at $620. So, get bidding!
On the back of their Final Fantasy iii remake square enix have announced a full remake of the title Final Fantasy iv for the Nintendo DS, the game will be making the jump into 3d, along with this expect to see new content such as bonus episodes and totally redesigned characters.
No release date has been set, but expect to see more of the title at the Square Enix Party this weekend
Last year Nintendo took over distribution of its products in South Korea after relying on local companies to do in the past, in an effort to better expand operations and influence. Yesterday the company has threatened legal action against software pirates who intend to burn, sell or otherwise illegally distribute its games in the territory. Nintendo already maintains a stalwart stance against software piracy in other countries like China and Brazil.
Morpheon Mods has come out with what has to be the most extremely coolest looking DS that I've ever seen. A custom paint job of gold mixed with black in representation of Zelda. You know, like the golden cartridges! As an even better bonus there's a sword and sheild on the top with a blue LED to back light it.
At the time of this post the current bid is at $660.00 USD. $660 for a DS you might ask? but it's for a good cause! The DS is being sold for the charity Childs Play.
AGI and Sega are creating a software for the DS, Kokoro Scan, that will be able to tell a person's mood. Along with it will be a few games and mini-games, one being Kokoro age.
This seems like something that will be incorporated in many DS games to come, re-revolutionizing the Nintendo DS. I will have to try it out first before I can confirm that though; so I'll just have to wait.
Nintendo is doing so successful with its Wii and DS, that analysts say this overwhelming success will hurt the gaming industry as a whole badly. Being such powerful competition, Nintendo is pushing publishers to develop and release faster in order to keep up with Nintendo and get a small slice of the pie. This will cause lower quality games, which is never a fun thing, especially when it had the potential to be better. Although I'm a Nintendo enthusiast, I enjoy many other sources of gaming t...
It is good to see grandma and grandpa finally getting into some video games. These senior citizens have always been trying to keep their minds work and non-senile for all of time, and brain training games now seem to be the solution. And the fad is spreading fast; just a couple days ago, I saw my friend's grandpa playing Brain Age. Watch out, kiddies, your grandparents might take over your title as the gamers of the family.
SPY-Q has been announced for the Nintendo DS, based on the Fighting Fantasy gamebook. It combines spy missions with classic puzzle solving. It seems interesting enough; as soon as I read the article I thought of real-time puzzle solving that involves large amounts of volatile resources (ie people would be almost like pieces of a chess game in real life). But not enough info has to be given to live up to such expectations, but you can always stay tuned.
"The software itself is included on a cartridge that fits into the GameBoy slot on the DS. Separate versions are available for the original "phat" Nintendo DS and the smaller DS Lite, the only difference being that the cartridges fit flush to the bodies of those respective systems. Both versions are currently available in Europe and Asia, and are expected to retail for $40 or less when they hit North American store shelves on June 4.
Once you pop in the cartridge and boot up, getting online..."
"Wii Sports is the only game that can be ONLY played on Wii, not on any other console. So future games such as Brain Training on Wii or that type of thing I dont think this is such a great idea as these games are already being played and are very popular on DS they are not specific to the Wii."
![Box shot of Nintendo DS Hardware [North America]](http://i.neoseeker.com/boxshots/R2FtZXMvTmludGVuZG9fRFM=/nintendo_ds_hardware_frontcover_small_FL65l9TB5H8hSDS.jpg)