Nintendo wins at Japan
We all know the DS is kicking ass. It has excellent games that unite everyone from oldsters to little kids, and the DS Lite is the sexiest portable system around (sorry, PSP. Maybe the new PSP - see below - will reclaim the crown.) But this past week, in Japan, Nintendo has hit another milestone: every single one of the top 10 selling games across all platforms is for the Nintendo DS. FromFinal Fantasy IIIon down, including aBrain Agesequel,Mario Hoops 3-on-3andNew Super Mario Bros., Nintendo racked up the sales. It's got to sting: PSP's getting slammed and the 360 might as well not even exist. Want to see the full chart for yourself? Hit the ever-saucyNeoGAF(beware: young children should run in terror.)
PSpee
Our sister mag, PSM, has released the first concrete details on the new version of the PSP. Next Generation - another sister publication - hasdistilled the info you need. The PSP is just getting a redesign; it's not a whole new system (contrary to what you may think, Sony's not stupid.) The new edition will be smaller and lighter, with a built-in 8GB of flash memory to save games and other media to. PSM even suggests that the new PSP will have a built in camera. No word on when it's going to come out, but PSM suggests that, iPod style, the new PSP will simply replace the old one - no price drop.
Break more faces
Sega's hard-boiled crime adventure, Yakuza, isn't even out in the US yet. But hat hasn't stopped Sega Japan from announcing the sequel. The game'sofficial sitehas updated with a bunch of details - English speakers can at least enjoy the downloadable desktop wallpaper. One of our favorite forum posters, duckroll - hey,he helped us out that one time- has decoded some of the juiciest info. Turns out Yakuza 2 will take place in the same city as the original - as well as Osaka, the second biggest city in Japan. The big news is that the action is being ramped up for the sequel, including a better targeting system and more battle actions. We're digging the original - check ourpreview- so it's good to hear that things are on track for a solid sequel. It's PS2 only for now. No word, obviously, on whether Sega will bring it west; that depends on how many of you guys pick up Yakuza, we expect. So buy it.
The internet has run out of names
There are already a few game trading sites on the internet. We like the looks ofGoozex, though. Despite the incoherent name, the idea is great: you put up lists of games you don't want anymore and let other people pick 'em out. When someone grabs your game, you score Goozex points, which you can then cash in on a later trade. Each trade also costs a buck, which isn't too bad, we figure. We don't know how well it works just yet, but it makes tons of sense.Check it out. Ignore the cartoon dinosaur.
Is it, really?
Lovably curmudgeony British website Kikizo has put up a self-congratulatorystoryabout a discovery it made at last week's Games Convention in Germany. It appears that the European slogan for the PlayStation 3 is "This is living." It has a certain je ne sais quoi, we suppose. Hit the link to see a screen cap of the pleasantly squishy font the letters are printed in.
Nope, it doesn't get more exciting than that.
TimeShift... time shifted
Looking out for 360/PC shooterTimeShift? You're going to end up waiting even longer. The game - which we felt was more than a little gimmicky - is now shoved into next year. Given that fact ,we can only hope that the extra time helps them work out the kinks. That's about all we know: check out our lasthands-onif you want to know what you're waiting for.
New screens
Disgaea Portable(PSP)
NHL 07(360,PS3)
NBA Live 07 (360,PS2,Xbox,PSP)
Samurai Warriors 2(360)
Fatal Inertia(PS3)
Xenosaga III(PS2)
New movies
Need for Speed Carbon (360,PS3,PS2,PSP,Wii,Xbox)
Battlestations Midway (360,PC)
NBA Live 07 (360,PS3,Xbox,PS2,PC)
NHL 07 (360,PS3)
Bad Day L.A. (PC,Xbox)
Virtua Fighter 5 (PS3)
August 31, 2006
