Linkers4u.com have today announced they are taking preorders for the SuperCard DS (Slot 1) microSD for NDS/NDSL Flash Cart which is the first Slot 1 cart from the Supercard Team.

For those who dont know what a Slot 1 cart is well its basically a Normal DS Game cart that you the user can put games, emulators and more on.

Heres the full details from Linkers4u.com

Product Features

100% clean rom support
Original DS Cart Size: Insert into DS Slot 1 without any stick out.
Boot from DS slot 1 directly: No more FlashMe/PassMe is needed!
Supports NDS and NDSL consoles
Supports microSD card up to 4Gbyte

More Description
The SuperCard Team has been in the scene for a long time, and they have been working on developing new features in the past three years. With simple but practical functions, the SuperCard has gained great popularity in the gamer world. After a long period of research and development, the SuperCard Team has finally come up with a slot-1 solution, the SUPERCARD DS. Boosting many advanced features, and being easy to use, makes this ONE card that's a must have for any DS gamer.

The price is a decent USD 42.58 (around 21 Pounds) and on preorder now but in stock on the 13th of january according to Linkers4u.com ...

via joystiq

Gamasutra examines video game addiction as covered by mass media, its treatment by several clinics, and its lack of research. Sure, people have problems with excessive play, but can games be as addictive as other substances?

From the article: "Games are substance-free and value-free ... There are a million wonderful examples of community building in these games. There are a million wonderful examples that could be used to build a stronger and more wholesome society. You just need to look at games with the right eyes. The informed ones."

Where do you stand on game addiction? Has that stance changed for those with children?

Are you addicted to gaming ? ...

via joystiq

How did Microsoft dodge the scaling issue that has plagued Sony since its launch? Maybe it was the timing -- an HD console in a Standard Def world -- or perhaps it was Ana, the affectionate title for Xbox 360's hardware scaler.

Whereas the PlayStation 3 downscales to meet resolution, Ana upscales Xbox 360 titles to 1080p to impressive results, according to Ars Technica's Ben Kuchera. Speaking with Microsoft's Scott Henson, Kuchera learns that Ana was designed at the same time as Xenos, the console's GPU. Though the addition of a PS3 hardware scaler is possible in the future, Xbox Group Product Marketing Manager Aaron Greenberg opines that it would be difficult for Sony to fix the issue with software, leaving first-generation PS3 owners in the cold.

However, the truth is, as Kuchera notes, differences between the two console's graphics are minimal to nonexistent. "By [the time PS3 has second-generation titles] we'll have Halo 3," Henson said. "We'll be on the third–generation games. We hope to always be a little bit ahead." When will Sony pull ahead of the Xbox 360, graphically, and to what extent is Ana Microsoft's secret weapon in keeping up? ...

via joystiq

Speaking with Ars Technica, Microsoft Director of Platform Strategy Scott Henson explained that the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive would likely never be internalized into a future version of the console because "[we] don't want to charge customers $200 extra for something that may be the next Betamax." While Henson's frank remark is definitely a PR no-no (though it could easily be interpreted as a shot at Sony), it simply echoes the current state of uncertainty: No one knows which format, HD-DVD or Blu-ray, will prevail. Microsoft has clearly aligned itself and the Xbox 360 with HD-DVD, but it's left open the possibility of a Blu-ray switcheroo -- Peter Moore openly acknowledged as much during CES last year.

Early HD-DVD add-on adopters might eventually get burned (if the format fails), but this certainly won't affect all, if even a majority, of Xbox 360 owners. On the flip side, if Blu-ray flops, 100% of PlayStation 3 owners will feel the burn. Sony is still the bigger risk taker. ...

via gamespot

German censors have targeted yet another Xbox 360 game as being unsuitable for young gamers. As it effectively "banned" Dead Rising and Gears of War, the German ratings board, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbskontrolle (USK), has refused classification on Microsoft's upcoming Crackdown.

By failing to receive a rating, Crackdown will have a handful of restrictions placed on its sales. As an unclassified game, Crackdown cannot be sold to minors, the transaction must take place in person, and the game can not be displayed or advertised in stores.

The decision to not rate the game is, like both Gears of War and Dead Rising, likely due to the game's violence. In Crackdown, players take on the role of a cop with superhuman powers who takes on gangs through brute force.

The USK's decision on Crackdown comes less than a month after proposed legislation in the country was drafted seeking jail time for gamers who performed "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters."

While Microsoft was able to confirm Germany's refusal of rating for Gears of War, the company had no comment on the decision to refuse rating on Crackdown.

Crackdown is rated M for Mature by the ESRB for "Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs" and will be released in North America on February 20. ...

via gamesindustry

Outspoken Tory MP Boris Johnson has declared that it's time to "garotte the Game Boy and paralyse the PlayStation", blaming falling literacy rates on the rise of videogames.

In a recent opinion piece for The Telegraph, Johnson wrote, "Millions of seven to 15 year olds are hooked, especially boys, and it is time someone had the guts to stand up, cross the room and just say no to Nintendo.

"It is about time, as a society, that we admitted the catastrophic effect these blasted gizmos are having on the literacy and the prospects of young males."

According to Johnson, less and less children are enjoying reading and more and more students are arriving at university without adequate writing skills. He added, "I refuse to believe that these hypnotic little machines are innocent."

Johnson went on to quote figures stating that the number of computer games per household is higher for Britain than for any other EU country, and that 89 per cent of UK households with children own a console.

"These possessions are not so much an index of wealth as a cause of ignorance and underachievement and, yes, poverty," he continued.

"The nippers are bleeping and zapping in speechless rapture, their passive faces washed in explosions and gore. They sit for so long that their souls seem to have been sucked down the cathode ray tube.

"They become like blinking lizards, motionless, absorbed, only the twitching of their hands showing they are still conscious. These machines teach them nothing. They stimulate no ratiocination, discovery or feat of memory."

Although Johnson is not a regular commentator on videogames, he is well known in Britain for his controversial opinions on a wide range of topics. He has hit the headlines for describing George W. Bush as "a cross-eyed Texan warmonger" and Tony Blair as "a mixture of Harry Houdini and a greased piglet", and last year angered the embassy of Papua New Guinea by referring to "orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing".

He has become something of a cult figure in the UK, with some fans calling for him to become Prime Minister - but according to Johnson, there is as much chance of this happening as "my being reincarnated as an olive".

Another out of touch idiot blaming Video games when they should really be looking and education and upholding the law, always a twat trying to make a name for themselves. ...

via gibiz

Industry veterans from Activision and Vicarious Visions have formed new a development team, OneNine Studios.

Also including employees from Gameloft, Digital Eclipse and Kush Games, the firm is currently focused on handheld and mobile development.

The developer already has a deal in place to create a mobile game with GoPets, the company behind the online gaming and social networking community, which boast over 500,000 registered users.

"OneNine is dedicated to making great games for both casual and hardcore markets, on all possible platforms," reads a company statement.

"We are looking to expand into DS and PSP development, as well as games for the web/downloadable and Xbox Live Arcade markets."

"With the extensive talent we have assembled, we are fast becoming a leader in these and other emerging handheld and casual game markets," stated the company. ...

via gibiz



Nintendo of Europe has issued a statement regarding the accidental death of a young boy killed on holiday while charging his Game Boy.

"Nintendo wishes to offer its sincere condolences to the family of Connor O'Keefe," reads the statement.

"Details of the accident are currently unclear so we are unable to make any further comment at this stage," it added.

O'Keefe was killed last Saturday after unplugging the Game Boy in his hotel room in Thailand.

Police Lt. Colonel Sopol Borirok said the incident was an accident, adding: "No blame has been attached."

The story has been picked up by a number of UK newspapers, including the The Sun, The Mail and The Mirror, which splashed the story across the front page with the headline 'Killed by Game Boy.' ...

via /.

The Sony brand name took a beating last year over all those burning batteries and the rootkit fallout, right? Wrong, at least according to a recent survey of 2,000 adults who are apparently willing to forgive just about anything ... if you give them the right reason. Other technology companies, most anyway, also fare well in the brand survey. From the article: 'According to the survey, the Sony brand finished a gaudy ninth among the "Top 20 Winners for 2006," sandwiched comfortably between a couple of saintly American icons: Oprah and the National Football League. Moreover, the respondents see Sony climbing to No. 4 among this year's gainers, right above Amazon and eBay. Moral: Build a better PlayStation and the American consumer will forgive all else ...