New press release:

Crave Entertainment, a leading publisher of console videogames, today announced Brunswick Pro Bowling for PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system and WiiTM.

Brunswick Pro Bowling will give players a detailed, realistic bowling-center experience, complete with authentic sights and sounds, and official Brunswick bowling gear. Brunswick Pro Bowling will be highly customizable, allowing players to choose everything from their character’s appearance and accessories to ball styles.

In Career Mode, players work their way from amateur to professional by competing in a year’s worth of bowling tournaments. Ten authentic bowling centers, modeled after actual Brunswick locations, will set the scene. Up to four players can face off in Multiplayer Mode, and Quick Play Mode allows for a fast round of bowling.

Other Brunswick Pro Bowling features include:

Realistic physics engine simulates real-time changing lane conditions and accounts for momentum and spin.
Unlockable content includes a variety of Brunswick balls, additional bowling centers, equipment and apparel.
Players in career mode will face rivals, who seek out and challenge them throughout their careers.
PSP® system version will include ad hoc wireless multiplayer mode and additional character customization options. ...

New Weekly offer from Play Asia, heres the details:



Metroid Fusion is a side-scrolling action/adventure game with an intriguing sci-fi storyline and stunning graphics. Controlling a bounty hunter named Samus Aran, players explore vast futuristic environments in a mission to destroy an army of deadly parasites.

Metroid Fusion expertly mixes action and adventure elements to create a rich, highly stylized gaming experience. Like the original Metroid titles, Samus begins the game in a weak state and must locate power-ups to slowly become stronger. Almost everything Samus uses is upgradeable, including bombs, missiles, suits and the arm cannon. In addition to the old favorites, Metroid Fusion delivers several new power-ups as well.




Nintendo's Gameboy Advance™ classic Metroid Fusion is now available at discounted US$ 11.90 only.

Game features:

Explore huge side-scrolling futuristic environments crawling with secrets and new enemies!
Upgrade Samus's suit with amazing power-ups like the Morph Ball, Space Jump, Screw Attack, Varia Suit, Wave Beam and more.
Connect with Metroid Prime for Nintendo GameCube to access cool special features!
Follow Samus Aran through an engrossing storyline brought to life by thrilling cut-scenes.
As usually, this weekly special is valid for exactly 1 week (if not sold out earlier) and this time limited to a maximum purchase of 1 unit per customer.

Buy at Play Asia ...

Newly released at Play asia:



features
Officially licensed item
Limited availability
Contains 1 out of 6 Nintendo DS Lite Card Case (shipped randomly!)

Buy at Play Asia ...

Sony’s UK head of sales Kevin Jowett has quit – just five weeks from the launch of PlayStation 3 in Europe.
SCE UK commercial director Jowett has been something of a stalwart within the PlayStation division of Sony. He took over as sales director from Doug Goodwin back in 1998 and has played an integral role within the organisation since then, in particular working closely with retailers over stock allocations on PS2, PSP and, more recently, PS3. He has also taken a keen interest in general retail issues such as pricing and the second-hand games market.

MCV understands that Jowett has resigned to pursue new opportunities outside of the games industry and has left the company immediately, due to confidentiality issues.

The news will undoubtedly be seen as a blow to Sony – and may disrupt sensitive negotiations that are already underway with retailers over the launch of PS3. His departure has already shocked senior execs on the UK High Street, with one leading games buyer telling MCV: “The timing is absolutely incredible.

“Kevin is going just as Sony is talking to everyone about terms and arranging pre-orders and in-store marketing campaigns.

“Obviously, Sony is a big organisation and there will be people there who can fill Kevin’s position. But this can’t be helpful to them.”

SCE UK MD Ray Maguire confirmed Jowett’s resignation, offering: “We wish Kevin all the best in his future endeavours.”

via mcv ...

Playing games can take a long time, like 70 hours for some. Worse case scenario, they never end. So you see, video game critics (read: journalists) are faced with a problem; if they're suppose to critique games as Roger Ebert does movies, shouldn't they play every single AAA title all the way through to do their job to the fullest?

Joystiq's own ninja columnist Kyle Orland examines the "limited time to complete so many games" dilemma in speaking with a variety of industry journalists. From his GameDaily column: "Many journalists that responded to my inquiry found they just didn't have the time to really get into certain epic games. CMP's Simon Carless lamented that he'd probably 'have to take a holiday' to put aside his current pile of games and finally get through Twilight Princess. GameDaily's Robert Workman is waiting for "a lazy summer day" to finally give Oblivion another go."

Yours truly? I've only played 20 minutes of Gears, probably won't play past the water temple in Twilight Princess, and have God of War (the first one!) still sitting in a box waiting to be played all because of fleeting time. Someone needs to tar and feather me. So what games are you ashamed to say you've never played or completed?

via joystiq ...

Forget about the old "ICARUS FIGHTS MEDUSA ANGELS" code. Ain't gonna work with the Virtual Console version of Kid Icarus released Monday. A warning attached to the game download states: "The original Kid Icarus allowed players to use secret passwords; however, Virtual Console does not support these passwords."

The omission of these codes is likely a result of the original cartridge depending on an included module to process the codes; Virtual Console was not designed to emulate this specific component. Similar to Mario Kart ghost data or rumble feedback, Kid Icarus codes are dependent on hardware external to the game file. It simply isn't cost effective for Nintendo to patch VC to support these apparently minor features; unless the service encounters a backlash. You willing to stand up for those cheat codes?

via joystiq ...

Digital Spy is reporting that pre-orders for the Playstation 3 in the UK has "broken all records, with high street stalwart Woolworths revealing it has been taking one order every 20 seconds during the past week."

The head of games for the retailer called the console the hottest gaming system since the PS2.

But then you look at Charles Arthur's anecdotal story of PS3 sales in the UK for the Guardian's Gamesblog.

At a local games shop there's a notice suggesting people pre-order their PS3 before March 29, when.. you know.
So how's business, I asked the bloke behind the counter? What sort of interest is there in the PS3 compared to the Xbox 360 and Wii?

Very low, he replied: with, what, six weeks to go before the launch, half their pre-allocation had not been taken up. (Of course you could go glass-half-full and say half had been.) That compared to pretty much all taken up for the Xbox 360 a year ago, and huge over-demand for the Wii before last Christmas.

So what sort of ratio of demand was there between the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360? Demand for the Wii was more than 10x greater than for the PS3, he said, and had been about 5x that of the Xbox. And he personally didn't think any of the PS3 launch games were worth the bother. "Sony has been promising this for two years and people have just got bored with it," he suggested.

So which is it? Are UK gamers fevered over or bored with the PS3 launch, or is it a bit of both with a dash of eBay grey market boosting the early demand?

via kotaku ...

New Retro games console released:



The PlayPal Portable is a video game player, which is pre-loaded with 20 classic games from SEGA Master System and Game Gear games. There is no need to buy game cartridges. The high quality 2.4” TFT LCD and built-in speakers allows arcade like playing experience in the palm of your hand. The PlayPal Portable game player has an A/V connector and with the included cable the player can be connected to any TV. The built-in SEGA games provide action adventure while testing your intelligence and skill. Enjoy playing classic SEGA games anytime, anywhere with the new PlayPal Portable video game Player.



For those interested buy at Playpal World ...

Sony will cut back on future chip spending and may stop in-house production of the advanced chips used in its PlayStation 3, a senior executive said Tuesday.

Improving profitability in Sony's chip division is important for the Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment conglomerate, which is targeting an operating margin of 5 percent in the business year from April, up from an estimated 0.7 percent a year earlier.

Sony Executive Deputy President Yutaka Nakagawa told reporters that investment in chips will come down significantly from the $3.8 billion (460 billion yen) allocated over the three previous business years.

Sony is already producing the Cell chips, dubbed "supercomputer on a chip," using 90- and 65-nanometer circuitry for the PS3, and plans to move onto the 45-nanometer variety by 2009. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. Narrower circuitry makes the size of a chip smaller and helps manufacturers cut per-chip production costs.

Components such as the Cell chip and a Blu-ray DVD player have driven up the PS3's price--the high-end 60GB model retails for $599 in the US. Lower costs for the high-speed chip are expected to help the new game machine better compete with Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360, which currently retail for $249 and $399, respectively.

But finer circuitry also means heavier initial investments for chipmakers as costs for chip-making equipment balloon.

"We tentatively plan to start commercial production of 45-nanometer chips in late 2008 or early 2009. We are going to study carefully whether we should carry out all the capital investment and produce them in-house," Nakagawa said.

"When we first offered the [PlayStation 2], there were no semiconductor companies that were able to make chips for the machine, so we did it ourselves. But now, there are companies that specialize in (such) chip production," Nakagawa said.

These chipmakers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and United Microelectronics, the world's largest and second-largest contract chipmakers, respectively.

"They are aggressively investing in cutting-edge technology. Our basic understanding is that we probably won't need to do everything by ourselves for next-generation chips," Nakagawa said.

Revenue at Sony's chip operations is expected to grow 57 percent to $6.35 billion during the current business year that ends in March, accounting for 9.4 percent of its estimated group sales, although part of its chip sales are made through in-house transactions.

Sales have been driven by brisk demand for chips used in its game machines as well as in digital cameras, Nakagawa said.

Sony's PS3 sales have so far paled in comparison with the rival Wii. The Nintendo machine outsold the PS3 nearly three to one in Japan last month, according to video-game magazine publisher Enterbrain, which blamed the lower sales on the PS3's higher price tag and a shortage of game titles.

via gamespot ...