Source Gamespot

Tapwave's Zodiac, Tiger's Gizmondo, and Nokia's N-Gage have all recently tried to break into the lucrative portable-gaming sector. However, with little brand recognition and lukewarm software support, the first system has gone the way of Betamax--and the futures of the others are uncertain. While these handhelds were part of the new wave of multimedia portable gaming devices, it was Sony's PSP that was the Big Kahuna.

But even Sony's "must-have" PSP plays second fiddle to Nintendo's two portables, the Game Boy Advance and the DS, which account for roughly 78 percent of the handheld market. With two handheld giants to contend with and history stacking the odds against new entries into the portable market, it would seem that Nintendo and Sony will be going tête-à-tête, at least for a while.

Enter iRiver. The Korean company best known for portable digital music players is reportedly unveiling the iRiver G10, its first dip into mobile gaming, at the Consumer Electronics Show taking place now in Las Vegas.

According to various reports around the Web, the unit will run on the Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system, have multiple storage options of 4GB or 8GB, and feature WiBro wireless Internet functionality. Its 4-inch 800x480-pixel color display (the PSP's screen, by comparison, is a 4.3-inch 480x272-pixel screen) and takes up much of the unit's face. However, in a move similar to T-Mobile's Sidekick phones, the front slides up, revealing two D pads, and select, start, and on/off buttons.

However, none of the aforementioned details for the G10 have been confirmed by iRiver, and inquires to representatives for the company had not been answered as of press time.

GameSpot will have more information from CES soon. ...

Source - Gamespot

Yesterday, rumors wafted across the Atlantic from francophone fanzine Jeux-France.com. In a typically brief article, the site said that Ubisoft had confirmed that Splinter Cell Essentials, the franchise's first foray on the PSP, would be a prequel--meaning it would be an all-new title, not just a tweaked port. Specifically, Essentials would "explain the origins of Fisher," according to Jeux-France, which said the information was confirmed by French Ubisoft officials.

As it turns out, the Essentials-prequel rumor was partially true. Ubisoft reps confirmed to GameSpot that Splinter Cell Essentials would indeed include a "prequel aspect." The rep declined to elaborate what exactly the "aspect" would entail, but did say that "it definitely is not the primary focus" of the game.

The Ami-Ubi disclosure raises the possibility that Splinter Cell Essentials could be a tweaked port of a PlayStation 2 title, a la Prince of Persia Revelations. That game was a miniaturized version of the PS2 Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, with some new content added and several levels reworked.

So what exactly will Splinter Cell Essentials be? Ubisoft isn't saying--yet. "We are preparing to make an official announcement and will give more details very soon," said the rep. ...

With Sony incorporating its Blu-ray media format into the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft publicly pondering an HD-DVD-equipped model of the Xbox 360, the battle for supremacy between the two formats is likely to have repercussions for the gaming industry.

That battle is heating up today as the Consumer Electronics Show opens in Las Vegas to opening salvos from both camps.

Unsurprisingly spearheading the charge for Sony's Blu-ray was Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, which announced an initial lineup of 20 titles to be released alongside the first Blu-ray players this spring. That full first wave includes The Fifth Element, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Desperado, For a Few Dollars More, The Guns of Navarone, Hitch, House of Flying Daggers, A Knight's Tale, Kung Fu Hustle, The Last Waltz, Legends of the Fall, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Robocop, Sense and Sensibility, Stealth, Species, SWAT, and XXX. Sony Pictures also announced Black Hawk Down and The Bridge on the River Kwai for a summer 2006 release.

Also in the summer, Sony Pictures will start adding bonus Java games to its Blu-ray discs and begin releasing some titles for the format at the same time as their standard DVD counterparts. To update its sizeable back catalog of titles, the studio will initially give the Blu-ray treatment to four older titles per month beginning this summer, and move up to 10 titles per month by the end of the year. Also being readied for a summer release is the complete Stargate Atlantis TV series in high-definition.

Independent distributor Lionsgate announced its own support for the Blu-ray format as well, detailing its first 10 titles, set to start hitting shelves in the spring: Lord of War, The Punisher, Devil's Rejects, Saw, T2: Judgment Day, Reservoir Dogs, Total Recall, Dune, Rambo: First Blood, and See No Evil, starring the WWE wrestler Kane. Twentieth Century Fox has also said it will release 20 Blu-ray films in a first wave this year that will include films such as Fantastic Four and Ice Age.

There was news on the HD-DVD front as well, as a primary backer of the technology, Toshiba, unveiled its first two HD-DVD players for the US market. Beginning in March, the HD-XA1 and HD-A1 players will hit stores for $799.99 and $499.99, respectively. Both units are backward compatible with regular DVDs and upconverts the signals from them to an output resolution of 720p or 1080i for HDTVs. Perhaps taking a cue from the Blu-ray-equipped PS3, some HD-DVD players will have USB ports "for convenient connection of gaming controllers," according to Toshiba.

Not all the format wars news is coming out of Las Vegas. Japanese site ITmedia has reported that Blu-ray discs will shake up the current DVD regional lockout system. DVDs and DVD players carry one of nine different region codes, each corresponding to a different set of countries and territories. To play a disc from a given region, a DVD player must come from the same region (or be a Region 0, or all-region, player). According to ITmedia, Blu-ray discs will shuffle which countries are in which regions so that North and South American, Japan, Thailand, Malayasia, Korea, and India are all in Region 1, with Europe and Africa in Region 2, and China, Russia and others in Region 3.

This should make it easier for importers and cinephiles to get their hands on foreign films, as the current DVD Region 1 is essentially confined to American and Canadian releases. It is currently unclear what changes HD-DVD will make to the standard DVD region system, if any. ...

$1,800 isn't really all that much for Pioneer's forthcoming player, which bundles 1080p output and 1080p video upconvert, and supports DTS-HD, DTS and Dolby Digital. Besides an HDMI jack for one-cable hookup, the BDP-HD1 will be able to network with any DLNA-compliant server or any PC running Windows Media Connect. ...

For those of you who use the Trainer for Grand Theft Auto by Edison Carter and have a v2.0 or higher PSP then this Movie player finder file by PSPZones, heres the info:

This is a simple file which provides quick links to your videos created using Edison Carters GTA:LCS Cheat Device.

To install simple do the following:

1. Connect PSP to USB
2. Put PSP in USB Mode
3. Place this file into the root of the memory stick (DO NOT PLACE INSIDE THE MP_ROOT FOLDER OR ANY OTHER FOLDER)
4. Open up the psp browser
5. Cancel out of all screens until you are left with the blank browser page.
6. Type the following into the address bar: file:/player.html
7. Click the links to view your videos!

If you have any problems then please visit pspzones.com or email us. Thank you and enjoy!

Download via comments ...

News from Play Asia



Mawashite Koron is an inofficial successor to the 1992 released Super Famicom puzzle game On the Ball (also known as On the Ball in the US).

The target in this game is to lead a ball through a dungeon-like maze under a special time limit. This is done by rotating the maze left and right. A close-up view of the ball and its surroundings is shown on the top screen, while a full map is visible on the bottom one. Played with the stylus, the dungeon rotates depending on which icon is pressed. You can also make the ball spin, increase its speed and give it destructive abilities.

The single player mode contains four difficulties. In the multi player mode, you compete by trying to escape from the dungeon fastest.

Taito's Mawashite Koron for Nintendo DS™ is now available at discounted US$ 14.90 only. ...

Deniska has released a great port of Defendguin for the PSP:



Heres the information:

This is PSP adoptation of "Defendguin" by by Bill Kendrick ([email protected] m; http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/defendguin)

Defendguin is based loosely on William's classic arcade game, "Defender."
Some recognizable stars in the realm of modern operating systems should be fairly obvious. See original documentation for details on game play, credits, etc.

FEATURES:
- 20 levels with final boss (guess who? ;-))
- original sound fx & soundtrack
- modable graphics

INSTALLATION
--------

1.5 users: copy contents of 1.5 folder to ms:/PSP/GAME
1.0 use EBOOT.PBP from 1.0 folder with data files from 1.5 folder
2.0 Please let me know if either version works with the latest eboot loader for 2.0 firmware

CONTROLS
----------------

[ANALOG PAD] MENU NAVIGATION & SHIP'S IN GAME MOVEMENTS
[START] PAUSE
[X] SELECT/FIRE
[O] SMART BOMB
[SELECT] EXIT

Enjoy,

DENIS

Download and leave feedback at the release thread on our forums here --> http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=16462

great work Deniska ...

Did i ever say i love free stuff, well heres a competition to enter

Source - MoviesOnline

Do you own a PSP yet? Well if not we just got a great reason for you to get one. Our latest super-fantastic contest you can win 4 great new movie titles for the PSP! We have 8 PSP's in total, that we will be giving away in 2 great prize packs. Yes I know dont you just hate it? To enter is simple, email us your name and address and your entered. Check back to see if you win and more importantly to enter all the otehr super-alicious contests we run!

MADE: Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughan return as a hilarious odd couple of the underworld with Made, playing (respectively) Bobby and Ricky, long-time pals in Los Angeles. Failing as amateur boxers, they're recruited by their mob-connected boss (Peter Falk) to make what should be an easy delivery to an East Coast kingpin named Ruiz (Sean "P. Diddy" Combs). By the time they reach New York, Bobby's no-nonsense approach has been bulldozed by Ricky's hopelessly false bravado, which he's blithely absorbed from too many mobster movies. While Ricky invites disaster with reckless ambition, Bobby just wants a happier, legitimate future for his stripper girlfriend (Famke Janssen) and her neglected young daughter.

THE DOORS: Director Oliver Stone's homage to 60's rock group The Doors also doubles as a biography of the group's late singer, the "Electric Poet" Jim Morrison. The movie follows Morrison from his days as a film student in Los Angeles to his death in Paris in 1971, at the age of 27. The movies features a tour-de-force performance by Val Kilmer, who not only looks like Jim Morrison's long-lost twin brother, but also sounds so much like him that he did much of his own singing, performances by Meg Ryan, Kathleen Quinlan, and Kyle MacLachlan are similarly impressive.

GODSEND: After their young son, Adam (Cameron Bright), is killed in an accident, a couple (Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn) approach an expert (Robert De Niro) in stem cell research about bringing him back to life through an experimental and illegal cloning and regeneration process. When Adam comes back to them, however, he's…different...

Saturday Night Live: Best of Will Ferrell Vol. 2

Get entering, let me know if you do and especially if anyone here wins ...

Electronic Arts announced today that Oscar De La Hoya will serve as cover athlete and spokesman for EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3.

Olympic gold medalist, former WBC & WBA super welterweight champion, WBC welterweight and super lightweight champion, De La Hoya is recognized as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and will be featured on the cover of EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 for the PSP.

"It's exciting to be contributing to a project that pushes the popularity of boxing to a new level and to a new audience," said De La Hoya. "EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 is so realistic anyone can pick up the game and learn about the actual sport while having a fun time doing it. The visuals in the game are so amazing. You can actually see the emotions on my face change throughout the round."

EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 brings the most intense boxing videogame experience to the virtual ring. Film-quality graphics and innovative gameplay establish EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 as one of the best-looking and playing Xbox 360 sports game on the market.

Developed by EA Chicago, EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 3 is scheduled to ship in February 2006 for the PSP. ...