Microsoft has offered a little reassurance to fans of backwards compatibility on Xbox 360, following comments made by the Peter Moore that raised concerns about the future of back 'pat support on the next-gen console.

Moore tickled the hornet's nest when he declared, "Nobody is concerned anymore about backwards compatibility", in an interview with website Kikizo. Speaking further about backwards compatibility on Xbox 360, he said that Microsoft "under promised and over delivered" on the feature and that, while "More [backwards compatible titles] are coming ..at some point you just go, there's enough, let's move on, people aren't as worried about a game being backwards compatible".

Certain parties have taken Moore's comments to mean that Microsoft is very shortly to let the axe fall on backwards compatibility, but a posting made on Gamerscore Blog (an official Microsoft blog site) in response to all the speculation and ranting implies that backwards compatibility is by no means heading to the chopping block any time soon.

In the post, headlined "Backwards Compatibility Update Coming Soon", it's stated that Microsoft's backwards compatibility team is currently "in the testing phase of another update, and it should be out in the next few weeks", with the new back 'pat update featuring "at least a dozen titles".

It goes on the discuss the difficulty of emulating Xbox titles on Xbox 360 and how an originally imagined few dozen 'back compat' titles has become over 200, but the really crucial comment is this: "But rest assured, we're not done yet... We know for a fact that there are lots of people who continue to care about backwards compatibility, including the 'Emulation Ninjas' who are working full time on the updates. And those of us posting on this blog. And, of course, many of you."

So it seems that, while backwards compatibility updates for Xbox 360 will eventually come to an end, the finish line isn't in sight yet. And while we're here, what are your own thoughts on backwards compatibility on Xbox 360? Is it a good thing or, like Peter Moore reckons, are you not really that bothered about it anymore, given the dearth of original Xbox titles on the horizon? Let us know what you think in the comments field below.

via CVG ...

In an E3 presentation positively rammed with new titles, information and three grown men prancing around the stage with wands like fairies, one of the most exciting announcements at Nintendo's press event concerned WiiConnect24. However, such was the sheer reckless pace of the conference, we didn't really get to learn as much as we'd have liked.

Now, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has divulged a few new snippets of information concerning Wii's permanent internet connection, speaking to Japanese website TechOn.

Previously, we'd known that WiiConnect 24 could be used for things like enabling other visitors to scope out your Animal Crossing village while you're tucked up in bed, but now Iwata has revealed that the company plans to offer new content for both Wii and DS on a regular basis.

Iwata explains that Nintendo intends to make games last beyond their normal shelf-life by adding new content to its titles regularly. His hope is that by offering new content, people will slap on a game every day to see what's new, expanding its life way beyond the initial period after purchase. Elaborating further, Iwata says, "To lead users to do that, we need to offer something new each day. That is why we thought of a system that would allow us to change our offerings during the night.

"I feel that allowing the system to stay connected to the Net throughout the night is a valid application of semiconductor technology."

What's more, Nintendo also suggests it will offer downloadable DS demos, which will arrive automatically overnight on Wii (you'll know you've got new content if the special front-panel LED is on when you wake up in the morning). The demos can then be transferred over to the DS and, presumably, played around on the tube to work. Hoorah!

"This will, of course, be possible in gaming stores too," Iwata states, "but I think users will enjoy being able to do this within their homes. The key merit here is having promotional material delivered to your home, instead of having to go collect it yourself..."

Perhaps even more interestingly, Iwata gave what could be considered an indication of how much games on the Virtual Console might cost. "When creating a packaged game to be priced at 5,000 yen, developers tend to feel the need to create a rich game. Yet it is possible to create a reasonably entertaining game in 2 months with a team of three. Offering such games for 500 yen [2.40 GBP approx] over a network could lead to a reasonable number of people purchasing it. By offering an environment that allows this, we hope to encourage more developers to pursue basic yet enjoyable gameplay."

Having said that, Iwata is still keen to point out that there's still a place on Wii for traditional console games with plenty of depth: "Such games are important in their own right, and will continue to be in demand. Still - think about it - eating French cuisine or a full dinner each day would quickly lead to boredom, wouldn't it? You'll want a simple bowl of rice and soup every now and then."

Needless to say, every time we hear more about what Nintendo's got in store for Wii, we get increasingly excited. November, if the latest Wii release rumours are to be believed, can't come soon enough as far as we're concerned.

Via CVG ...

We would say hat's off to our esteemed colleagues over at top technology and gadget guide T3 this morning, with the wider wilder internet suggesting they have dug up some inside info from Nintendo itself, which says that the Wii will debut in Europe on November 6 this year.

But, as is often the case with the smoke and mirrors of the internet rumour mill, you can't quite believe everything you read. A quick call to the T3 office quickly cleared the confusion up, with the T3-ers stressing that this is just a rumour - not established fact.

Despite the date and story coming from impeccable sources inside Nintendo, T3 are saying that it is just that, a strong rumour and definitely not a confirmed date.

Advertisement:Still it's a fascinating one to speculate on, because if true, the Wii would beat the PS3 (which launches on Nov 17) to market by nearly two weeks - and with a price point expected to be in the 150-200 GBP region, it would look a damn attractive proposition.

However, a Monday (which Nov 6 is) is probably not the best day to launch a brand new gaming platform so this one strikes us as fishier than a fishmonger's apron. Besides, Nintendo would probably prefer to get the Wii in shops as soon as it possibly can to put clear blue water between itself and Sony's launch.

So we hope that's cleared things up for you, but there'll no doubt be further Wii launch date speculation to come. We'll keep you posted with all the latest.

Via CVG ...

UK high street retailer HMV has announced the launch of its latest initiative for delivering games, music and movies to customers - with the Txt2Buy system set to allow customers to order products from their mobile phones.

The service, which has been launched by the retail giant in cooperation with mobile CRM technology provider Digital Rum, means that customers will be able to buy products simply by texting in shortcodes found in HMV's advertising.

After texting in their shortcode, users will receive a reply with a mobile Internet link that will allow them to securely pay for purchases on credit cards. Customers will also be able to store their credit card details to avoid re-entering them.\

"By combining SMS ordering with secure credit/debit card payment via the mobile internet, HMV is able to extend the order and payment capability of its high value product portfolio across any promotional medium - print, radio and television - simply by adding an SMS short code," Digital Rum's VP of sales, Russell Tarr, told financial technology publication Finextra.

The move makes HMV into one of the first companies to leverage the mobile phone platform as a way of selling boxed games in the UK. The retailer has previously stated that it hopes to target a significantly larger share of the UK games market; although it is a market leader in music and movies, in the games sector HMV is dwarfed by specialist rival GAME.

Via Gamesindustry ...

Floppydrive posted this news/release:


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aeolusc has released a new version of Ereader for the PSP, ereader is a text and html and supports a wealth of graphical formats, heres whats new via translation

1.1 update :
[+] pack increase shrinking and enlarging the double high / width (at cut over shrinking and enlarging Kin)
[+] increase reading choice : retain width disturbed
Remove the flashing cut over [!] catalogue
[!] amendments introduced within leakage 1.08
[!] removal menu cut over the boundary line

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Mikesena has released a new lua game for the PSP, heres the details:


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via mikesena ...

KennethDM posted this news/release:


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For those that dont know i will be over in the USA on holiday for 2 weeks starting the 13th June (When the world cup is on too )

Whilst im away the newsposting machine that is me obviously wont be here so if anyone can submit news to our news forum while im away that would be awesome.

Anything from Homebrew to Emulation and Even the latest Gaming and Hardware news is great too

The Staff that are here will then sort it to the right site and clean up the newspost if needed.

Simple newsposts are all thats needed, for example


Newsposts as simple as that are great and help keep the site going, any help at any time is much appreciated

Back to normal news. ...