How do celebrate ten years of Pokemon? With an orchestra, that's now. Club Nintendo sends word of a classic concert that features wall-to-wall Pokemon tunes. The event strikes up a tune in Tokyo at the MIELPARQUE on October 28th, at Well City in Kitakyushu City on November 5th, the Hyogo Performing Arts Center in Nishinomiya on November 12th and the Well City in Sapporo on December 10th.

More info ...

We've seen the North American, but where's the Japanese Wii box art? A-squint-and-you'll-miss-it Super Monkey Ball image popped up on Sega's site, and *surprise*, it's all pink and written in Japanese. Granted the Japanese title is different and various box art for games is not really news, but I'm actually a little surprised. I guess all the other early Wii games might have different art, save for Cars, which will look EXACTLY the same.

Boxart Via Comments ...

Heres an excerpt of a long and thought provoking article:


Full Article ...

The Media Arts Plaza, a project of the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs, has announced a list of "100 examples of media that represents Japan."

The list was compiled based on questionnaire results to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Japan Media Arts Festival, a yearly event that recognizes creative and technically excellent media. List candidates were selected based on both Web-based polls--some 33,884 people responded--and mailed-in surveys from artists, editors and critics.

The list is broken into four categories--art, entertainment, animation, and manga--of 25 items each. Over half the entertainment category was comprised of game hardware and software: Nintendo's Game Boy, DS, and Famicom (aka the NES), were chosen, along with Sony's PlayStation and PlayStation 2. The games selected were Super Mario Bros., Space Invaders, Final Fantasy VII, Puyo Puyo, Pokemon, Metal Gear Solid, and Dragon Quest(s) I, III, and V.

From January 21, 2007 a special exhibition at the National Art Center Tokyo will showcase the chosen works.

Via Gamestop ...

New commercial PSP game released:



Once again taking control of the liquid Mercury ‘blob’, players must avoid various obstacles and hazards to reach the end goal. The Mercury blob itself has now been given an overhaul and has 4 varying ‘states’ – Normal, Solid, Fast and Slow. These states allow for larger more complex levels, which in turn mean a greater challenge and more enjoyment to be had for the player.

More info / buy here --> http://www.yesasia.com/?/info.php?pro...4&lsaid=219793 ...

EA is making a concerted move into downloadable content delivery on Xbox Live Marketplace with the launch of several premium packages for Madden NFL 07 and NCAA 07, and says we're only going to see more of it from now on.

Vice president of online commerce Chip Lange told GameSpot that downloadable content was "a real creative opportunity that we're now starting to embrace".

EA's first releases include two downloadable stadiums for Madden, for 300 Microsoft points (GBP 2.55) each, along with video strategy guides aimed at teaching advanced techniques in both Madden and NCAA, priced at 160 points (GBP 1.36) per guide.

Lange says EA extensively analysed existing offerings on Marketplace to arrive at those price tags. "I can imagine it's probably one of the more thorough pieces of price analytics that have been done on the Marketplace today," he said. "We worked closely with Microsoft on it." He argues that the stadiums, which might seem expensive to some, will provide authentic experiences that fans of individual teams really want.

Going forward with Madden, EA's looking at new modes, uniforms, stadiums, strategy guides and "there's a bunch of other more out-of-the-box ideas that we're looking at" too - although Lange says they will continue to provide roster updates for free. He also raised the possibility of pay-to-play online tournaments.

In a separate interview with IGN, Lange also mentioned that the new Tiger Woods game would offer players a choice when it came to unlockable golf courses - either unlock them the hard way, in-game, or pay a small fee to grab them immediately.

And expect plenty more where all this is coming from, too - and on PlayStation 3 and Wii as well, providing they go that way. "If post-release content becomes a key component of those platforms' release strategies," said Lange, probably licking his lips, "there's no company in the world better to address it than EA." ...

Via CVG

Never before has a moment so clearly sorted the normal, average men from the frothing fanboys; jumping around like a stupid idiot, I made my allegiance clear as I acted like a hooting American and threw my proverbial knickers in the air when we got a personal invite to Nintendo's UK headquarters to play Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

The version we played this week was not all that different from the E3 build, except for one crucial tweak; updated Wii controls allowing us to swing Link's sword with a flick of the controller and risk accidentally twatting colleagues when the controller-strap wasn't on.

There's no discussion that Wii Twilight Princess is the Gamecube game with an additional wand-waving control scheme, but the question is; is it worth the effort and price of a shiny new Wii? From my hour-long bash I certainly found sword-combat much more enjoyable with the Wii controller; flicking my wrist and slashing with the remote seemed like a far more natural an intuitive method of control than simply punching buttons.

The Z button locks on to foes as normal, while a shake of the Nunchuk expansion performs a devastating spin attack, which certainly felt nice. There's also new finishing moves chucked into the mix which, when executed on a downed-enemy with the A button, send Link into a lunging-stab attack which usually finishes off what's left of your aggressor. Nintendo has previously demonstrated this same move being executed by performing a downwards stabbing motion with the controller, but we're not yet certain which method will make it to the final game.

The crown of Zelda's new Wii tricks however, are the excellent ranged aiming-controls, which allow you to use the Bow and Hookshot as precisely as you like in a lightgun-esque shooting set-up. Ranged controls feel very natural and lend themselves to the Wii controller incredibly well, with a simple point-and-click set-up using an on-screen cursor to mark out your target. Literally from the very moment I lifted the pad, I was sniping enemy-archers from a mile-away and making short work of anyone foolish enough to approach my new toy. It's undeniably more accurate and more enjoyable than vanilla pad controls, and making the sound of an arrow travel from the remote speaker to the television is perhaps the most satisfying thing I've done this week (sadly).

But beyond the control scheme, we know that Twilight Princes is going to be fantastic; Nintendo has touted it as the 'best Zelda game ever', which is no modest promise when half of the series backlog is already hailed as some of the greatest games of all-time. The dungeon I played through was the same fire-based local seen at E3; starting with a small dock area full of archers, crates and a giant crane to exploit the new tricks of my special metal boots.

Perhaps it's the voice of ignorance speaking, but the camera appeared troublesome when navigating tight spots and ladders, though the inclusion of a quick motion-powered first-person view was certainly welcome. Our on-screen pal, Navi helps keep track of where you're pointing, which was useful when in other games I spent most of my time pointing the pad at the ceiling.

The properties of my fancy footwear - presumably the prize of the dungeon - were exploited further in the demo when in true Zelda style I dramatically discovered a giant, flaming dungeon boss - who we're guessing had some kind of sacred stone or crystal lodged into his face.

With the Zelda franchise now in its 15th entry, it can't be easy to come up with new boss concepts, but the bods behind Twilight Princess have come up with an excellent method of dispatch for this baddy. The flaming nasty lashes at Link with two massive chains attached to his ankles, occasionally stopping to perform the odd fire-blasting attack.

(Warning: spoilers ahead) To clobber him, you've got to niftily land an arrow shot in the shiny jewel in his forehead - something we're sure will be far more troublesome without the Wii's excellent light-gun-esque aiming - and then use your new boots somehow to send him flat on his face.

It has to be said; even though the Wii is severely lacking in the horsepower department compared to its rivals, this boss battle is as dazzling and intense as anything higher-abled consoles have offered us so far.

Slowing things down a bit, an equally important part of our Zelda hands-on was the fishing demo, which gave us our first sample of the new hook, line and sinker motion controls which no-doubt have fans of previous series' fishing games very excited. Unlike previous instalments, Twilight' puts you on the open lake in a rugged fishing boat, where you can paddle around freely scouting out the best spots for catching top trout.

This in itself opens up a lot more possibilities than before; after spending so much time casting out in Ocarina of Time's tiny pond, our social lives have little hope of recovering from Twilight Princess's massive lake, which features waterfalls, shorelines ...

News from CVG


Comments anyone ...

Normally, when hooked up to a HDTV the PS2 would produce a hideously blurry picture. But the Xploder HDTV Player disc fixes this problem, allowing you to play any PS2 game in pin-sharp resolutions.

For those who are on their tech-speak, this disc allows you to put the PS2 into 480p, 576p, 720p and 1080i modes. That's high-res, for the techno newbies out there. It also includes VGA support, so you can hook your PS2 up to a PC monitor.

All you do is plonk the CD into the PS2 and up pops a menu screen. Set your desired resolution, insert your game and off you go. We tested it with two Sony HDTVs, both running OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast. With the HDTV Player pre-loaded on one PS2, the difference was immediately noticeable. We're talking Xbox 360 sharpness, and absolutely no effect on frame-rates at all.

It works simply by unlocking a high-def mode that already exists within the PS2's hardware. The Xploder HDTV Player comes bundled with a PS2 component cable needed for a HD signal, and will hit shops for £29.99.

An exact release has not yet been set, but it's due to hit shops before the end of October. ...