Microsoft Corp. plans to offer its Xbox 360 game console in Asian markets outside of Japan by early March, despite tight supply in the United States.

The head of Microsoft's Xbox business in Asia, Alan Bowman, said the console would hit the market in Korea on February 24 and Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore on March 2.

Microsoft's second offering in the game console market went on sale in the United States on November 22, and has been sold out at many shops. It went on sale in Europe on December 2 and is scheduled to reach shops in Japan on December 10.

Bowman, Asia-Pacific general manager for the Entertainment and Devices division, said Microsoft had resisted the temptation to delay international launch dates to meet U.S. demand.

"Believe me, that conversation happened," he told Reuters in a telephone interview on Friday. The comments were under embargo until Microsoft's launch announcement on Monday.

"We wanted to make sure within the first six months that we could get the 360 into all existing Xbox 1 markets."

"I'm very optimistic that demand is going to be significant. We're working very hard to keep supply up with demand," he said.

Microsoft has not yet decided on prices, though it said Asian prices would be in line with the United States and Europe. The Xbox comes in a bare-bones "core unit" and a premium version with more accessories such as a hard drive.

Microsoft has stolen a march in its bid to win market share from console industry arch-rival Sony Corp, which is slated to launch its next-generation PlayStation 3 next year.

However, Microsoft plans to rely on more than just an early launch to cut into Sony's commanding 70 percent share of the global console market.

Many Asian players have complained that the first Xbox had too many first-person shooters and sports titles, with fewer in genres that appeal to local tastes, such as role-playing games. Microsoft has courted Asian developers more aggressively this time around.

Korean developer Phatagram's "Ninety-nine Nights", which has impressed reviewers with hundreds of highly detailed enemies on screen at the same time, is expected to be a hit in Asia, and Taiwan's TWP Corp. is offering "Majong Online".

"We've really got a strong pipeline of material appropriate for Asia," Bowman said. "I think we've really made a lot of progress there."

Online capability also comes standard on the 360, rather than a separately-purchased service as it was on the first Xbox, and Microsoft has added an online marketplace to purchase and download small, casual games such as puzzle or card games.

"For us, the fact that Asia has high broadband penetration was a cornerstone for our original success," he said. ...

The sought-after Xbox 360 video game console is likely to be out of reach or out of stock this holiday season, but loads of other gifts promise to deliver joy to gamers, from hard-core enthusiasts to aspiring rock stars.

Microsoft's premium next-generation machine tops many wish lists and, even at a rich US$400, has been selling out fast in stores. Though easily found on Web auction site eBay, buying the Xbox 360 there means agreeing to pay the hefty mark-ups demanded by sellers.

While video games are always a good choice, this year's line-up is bereft of blockbusters like last year's must-have titles "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" and "Halo 2."

Still, reviewers say publishers have something for everyone.

"It comes down to what your poison is," said Josh Larson, director of industry products at GameSpot Trax.

One potential sleeper hit in this season of game sequels may be "Guitar Hero" for Sony's PlayStation 2 console.

Delivered by game controller maker RedOctane and "Karaoke Revolution" developer Harmonix, the new title puts a three-quarter size guitar in the hands of players who can earn points by hitting notes in 30 licensed songs from contemporary bands such as Franz Ferdinand as well as legendary blues/rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

Points accumulated by hitting the right notes allow players to eventually leave their garage for gigs at clubs, festivals and finally, stadiums. The game also includes 17 unlockable songs from independent bands.

Sam Kennedy, editor-in-chief of 1UP.com, said "Guitar Hero" took the gaming Web site's office by storm.

"If our rating scale went up to 11, this is the game that would have gotten it," he said of the title that maxed out 1UP's 10-point scale.

Kai Huang, CEO of RedOctane, said the company was aiming for a music game that would strike a chord in the United States.

"When you think about American culture, it's a natural for people to want to be a rock star," he said.

HARD-CORE FRONT-RUNNER

For hard-core players who already own an Xbox 360, Microsoft's "Perfect Dark Zero" title could be just the thing. Starring a fledgling female bounty hunter with big guns, it is the Xbox 360 game generating the most information requests on GameSpot's network of Web sites, Larson said. The game has earned high ratings, even as some current owners have reported minor graphical glitches.

Among PC titles, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.'s "Sid Meier's Civilization IV" has drawn the most information requests, while console games "WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2006" from THQ and "Star Wars Battlefront II" from LucasArts are top buzz generators in their category.

The lack of a hot title that blows gamers away means that new hardware other than the attention-grabbing Xbox 360 could steal the show this Christmas.

This is the first holiday season of sales for Sony's PlayStation Portable, and analysts are betting that the top title for the new handheld game player will be Take-Two's "Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories."

Sales of the Nintendo DS, a dual-screen portable player, have been boosted by hit games like "Nintendogs." Its most anticipated holiday title is "Mario Kart DS," the latest installment in that motor racing franchise.

The PSP retails for around $300 and the Nintendo DS prices at roughly $150, depending on accessories and other add-ons such as games. ...

Source - http://gpf.dcemu.co.uk/

This DS library implementation the Linux ROMFS file system for reading a pre-made boot romdisk.

To create a romdisk image, you will need the program "genromfs". This program was designed for Linux but can compile under Cygwin.", included is a prebuilt mingw windows binary.

This was derived/ported from KOS 1.3.x from the Dreamcast KallistiOS .

included is a simple FS test which demonstrates reading a couple of files from the romdisk, and then it displays the directory structure.

for more information about using the filesystem checkout the fs.h file for the proper api calls, which are all very similiar to standard stdio calls.

Also include is some stdio newlib stubs that call the kosFS for better stdio support but so far I havent figure out how to port those into the existing devkitpro / libnds configuration.

Troy Davis(GPF)

http://gpf.dcemu.co.uk/ndsromdisk.shtml ...

Source - Mike Haggar

antiroC has released a new Space shooter written in Lua for the PSP, heres what he says:

Currently I am developing my first game using Luaplayer, called Galuaxians, it's a space shooty game.

Screens and download via comments ...

Mohyo has released a new version of his Homebrew Browser for the Japanese 2ch forum:

Whats New

Write in is possible now.
When it doesn’t reload the thread list, please go back to thread list again to fetch the data.
JPEG is working now, use analog stick to view the whole picture.
JPEG can be saved on memory stick.
URLs for JPEG is displayed in blue.
Disconnect communication is possible… but not stable.

Download via comments: ...

Today, our mail-holes were snugly filled by a little email from Nintendo Europe which basically amounted to: "Here is the official site for Nintendo's codename Revolution console"
And here it is.

You won't find anything fantastically new there, but if you fancy reliving the joys of past, you can view upon the TGS presentation that sent Nintendo fans and purists into a loony frenzy.

Enjoy. ...

Before anyone gets all giddy, it should be known that the developer (NIBRI) of these screens has no official Revolution development kit or publisher ready to distribute the game. That said, the above image comes from the game entitled Raid of the River. Actual screens were developed on a PC and in a recent interview with Revolution Report, the developer said: ”[NIBRI] would like to do this game directly for Revolution and DS. Only Nintendo platforms [will] get this game.”

If the company is truly wishing to get on board with a Revolution publisher, best of luck to them. More developers is only a good thing. But given the lack of Revolution knowledge, tech specs, and mostly the controller, it’s tough to tell what the company could do with this one.

Screenshot via the comments ...

According to an interview with Club Nintendo, Reggie Fils-Aime has stated that The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is on track for an April release on the GameCube. Despite growing rumors that Twilight Princess is being delayed for the Revolution launch, Nintendo has reconfirmed that the game is still a GameCube title—but it will be compatible with the Revolution. Reggie told Club Nintendo that Miyamoto had requested the delay in order to ensure that this will be the… Best. Zelda. Ever. ...

While Japanese gamers hit the streets this Saturday for the Xbox 360 launch (or not), the rest of the Asian Xbox markets will have to wait a few months longer. Microsoft has confirmed that the 360 will debut in South Korea on Feb. 24, and in Taiwan and Singapore on March 2. No word on a Chinese launch date yet, or if there will be two versions of the console for these markets.

Xbox 360 regional executive Alan Bowman said that Microsoft wants to make sure the 360 is available in all existing Xbox 1 markets within the first six months. ...