For the past 2 years the end of April has become a time for fans of the hugely popular Shonen Jump manga and anime to look forward to, with each release of a side-scrolling Naruto: Saikyou Ninja Daikesshuu series for the Gameboy Advance. This year however, the action is on the DS, and due April 21st, there's just less than a month left to go.

Naturally the improved graphics make use of the extra power within the NDS, but Tomy haven't missed any chances to employ the unique features of the machine either. By wielding your stylus, you can direct chakra (energy) and execute attacks, or by blowing into the microphone, can perform Goukakyuu no jutsu (a powerful fireball technique!). Meanwhile on the bottom screen are the characters you can switch between, which unlike in the first two titles, is now five instead of three. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru and Kiba are all there, along with their chakra and health bars.

Further improvements include the ability to stockpile weapons instead of just holding and using one at a time, and Naruto packs some new moves too. Being able to kick off from walls to jump higher is the first, plus he can attack while squatting, and coolest of all, can run vertically up walls like a true light footed ninja.

Since Naruto began two and a half years ago, there has been almost 125 anime episodes, not to mention the 250+ manga comics, many games across GameCube, PS2 and GBA, plus the Japanese hailing it as the next Dragonball. It's clear that if there's just one anime waiting to burst onto the world scene, it's Naruto, and this year the series finally hits America via Cartoon Networks Toonami line-up. Naruto arrives late 2005, but also worth noting is One Piece, starting in May.

With a modern twist (and bright orange clothing at that!) on the classic ninja, the story follows Uzumaki Naruto as he attempts to become the number one in the Hidden Leaf village. Because of the time it'll take for the English edition to catch up with the storyline and characters of the games, it's unlikely we'll see Naruto DS outside of Japan for a long time though. Pre-orders for this title are still being taken, with everyone receiving a free Naruto Armband, including those who have already placed their orders, exclusively at Lik Sang.

Just how classic games don't feel the same when played with a keyboard, for some Sega fans certain PS2 titles just don't feel the same without the good old Saturn pad in their hands. Being arch enemies with the original PlayStation, back in the mid 90's no one would have believed we'd ever see the Saturn controller with an officially licensed PlayStation logo on the front, but here it is! Along with six front buttons, two triggers, a great D-pad for fighters and schmups, and a very ergonomical shape, start and select buttons have been added.

Arch enemies yes, but the Saturn was beaten down by PlayStation on the economical side of things. There's no doubt it couldn't be topped at 2D beat 'em ups however, and back in those days, the Virtua Stick was considered the best arcade stick ever made, and still is today by many old school gamers. Based on Sega's own Arcade Cabinet joysticks, the heavyweight stick has also been brought to PlayStation, complete with its large rapid fire buttons and micro-switches for smooth reliable movements. Both the controller and arcade stick were released last Thursday, just before Easter break, and are in stock and shipping within 24 hours.

For long time Sega followers, don't forget we also stock the Sega AGES titles as they are released in Japan. Coming up are Fighting Vipers then Dragon Force, a port that keeps the classic 2D look we love, but adds so much new stuff it's the first Sega AGES release to require a DVD-ROM! Also for the US though, Sega Ages Phantasy Star Trilogy is due May 1st, and includes additional storyline content, enhanced soundtracks, and improved visuals.

I said I'd be picking up a config editor; well, I'm not. It turns out that Normmatt wrote the thing in Visual Basic, and pretty bad VB at that. Not much code I can use there, I'm afraid. I might get onto that myself at some point soon.

Regarding the CPU, I've finally decided to pick up the red lights on ARMwrestler and make 'em green. That involved fixing the flag setting code for a few of the Thumb ops, and implementing a good chunk of the enhanced DSP (in particular, short multiply and saturated addition). After all that, it does indeed mean that Wrestler green-lights fully, which is a good thing.

[FIX] memory allocation func issue on non-zodiac devices (changed to memchunknew)

[FIX] memory allocation func issue on non-zodiac devices (changed to memchunknew)