Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has wafted away a little smoke surrounding the next-gen Revolution, killing off rumours surrounding the next-gen console's featured retro download functionality while speaking at a business strategy conference yesterday.
Revealing that the Revolution's system to download back catalogue Nintendo console games is called Virtual Console, Iwata-san confirmed that first-party games from Nintendo's previous consoles released for download onto Revolution will not be made available for free, saying "...we have no plans to distribute [the games] without charge."

However, for users to gain access to the downloads it might not simply be a case of paying up on a per title basis. Iwata-san stated that Nintendo believes "there's a number of ways that we can use the system, such as to offer a bonus download with the purchase of a new game, or allow some games to be downloaded during a limited time during a campaign period."

Although much of the focus on Virtual Console in past weeks has been directed toward first-party titles to be made available, Iwata-san said that Nintendo hopes to create a format that can additionally be used by third-parties "to make a profit by using the resources from our past."
He also let slip that we'll be able to download demos to our DS at home, although didn't elaborate on this feature. Nor was any mention made of DS-to-Revolution connectivity, which surely must be on the cards, but Iwata-san did touch on Revolution's internal 512Mb flash memory briefly - it will be used for downloading games through Virtual Console, for saving game data and for expansion of the Revolution's capabilities, whatever that means.

Satoru Iwata spent time talking about Nintendo's online service, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, during the business conference too, saying that it hopes that 90-plus percent of punters will use the service to play online games.

In Japan at least, Nintendo is to establish 1,000 wireless hotspots in key areas and shops selling Nintendo products, and users won't be charged to play games published by Nintendo online. It could be a different story with third-party published titles though, third-parties potentially charging for online play.

It was also revealed that Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection users will be able to shut themselves away from the general pubic and choose to play online in 'closed', private sessions just with friends if desired.

And if you're concerned over a lack of wireless internet connection in your home, the good news is that, according to Famitsu, Nintendo plans to release a USB network adaptor that you can plug into your PC that'll act as a point of connection for Revolution and DS.

To date, Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing DS are Nintendo titles confirmed to feature Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection functionality, although it won't be too long before the two are accompanied by similarly geared-up friends. Iwata-san said during the conference that 25 third-party publishers are currently working on games that'll support Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. ...

Word seeps out today from that leaky old barge known as the games development community that dev are finally getting their grubby paws on Xbox 360 beta development kits right about now.
"So what?" you might reasonably opine, "how does that affect the price of fish?", ah but care you should, as it's going to allow those devs to finally start upping the ante as Microsoft gears up for the crucial next six months before 360 launch.

Actually these kits may be about a week behind schedule as major 360 developers we talked to at E3 expected to have the kits within a week or so of show close.

At E3, Xbox 360 devs were having to show off their games running on Macs at what they were saying was only 30 percent of the 360's total power. In many cases it led to accusations and perceptions that 360 was not the generational leap forward it might have been. "Xbox 1.5" was a phrase which was cruelly bandied about amongst cheeky UK hacks way before the Sony execs got in on the act and adopted it as a line of attack. Maybe we should ask them for a royalty?

However with these kits now purportedly in place, developers should have all the ammo they need and it's also strategically important for that crucial 360 launch line-up. If there's no buzz about the actual games this Christmas and people aren't tearing down the walls to get their hands on Gotham 3, Gears of War and Perfect Dark Zero, then 360 will face a real uphill struggle at launch.
Word also comes our way that some key components like the 360's GPU and CPU have gone into production too, an equally crucial milestone for Microsoft, although apparently they will be holding off production of the unit itself until pricing has been finalised. ...

GPF (Troy Davis) who recently joined us as a hosted site has released his Neo Geo Pocket Emulator for the Dreamcast, heres what he posted in this Forum Topic ( http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/sho...1963#post31963 )

"This is a port of NeoPop-SDL-0.2

This is a very beta build right now.
Still a little slow and DAC sound doesnt work. But sound and sfx work.
State and Flash files are saved to a vmu in first slot, they are rather large (98 blocks for a state save, 7 blocks for a flash save),
flash is only saved if you load a new rom right now.

Press both triggers and start to return to the menu and keep pressing start to return to previous menu or back to gameplay.

Emulator support nested directories for roms.

Enjoy, download the source and improve it please

Thanks,
Troy Davis (GPF)
http://gpf.dcemu.co.uk/ "

Download from Troys site linked above. ...

BGT BioGraphic Technologies, Inc., the leader in real-time artificial intelligence (AI) tools and middleware, announced today that its AI.implant SDK will enable unmatched functionality and performance for game developers targeting the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. As a result, users of the Xbox 360 will be able to interact with the most intelligent NPCs available on any platform. ...

According to a recent article in Famitsu magazine downloading classic Nintendo games onto your Revolution will not be free. Boss man, Satoru Itawa, explicitly stated the fact, but added that some games might be available for free download as a bonus for purchasing a Revolution title or through special promotions. Packaging retro titles with current games is nothing new, but perhaps Nintendo will put a revolutionary spin on the concept—say, buy Mario Revolution (not a real title) and download any three Mario-related games from the past.

No word yet on the cost of downloads, or whether or not pricing will vary based on generation. We’ll keep you posted. ...

The latest issue of Famitsu reports that Donkey Kong will be among the titles scheduled for release on the upcoming Nintendo Revolution. This is the first news of the cybersimian, spawned in 1981 by Nintendo creative whiz Shigeru Miyamoto, heading for next-gen consoles.


Other games announced at E3 and confirmed by the magazine include new games in the Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Smash Brothers, and Metroid franchises. Square Enix is also developing a version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for the console.

That means three of Nintendo's most popular franchises have been confirmed for release on the Revolution. Super Mario is currently the company's top-selling franchise, with 181.17 million units shipped worldwide to date. Donkey Kong is the company's third best-selling series with 46.51 million units shipped worldwide, and the Legend of Zelda series is its fourth best-selling franchise, with 46.33 million units shipped worldwide thus far.

However, one of Nintendo's second best-selling series, Pokemon, is curiously missing. With a total of 100 million games shipped worldwide as of last year, it's difficult to imagine the Revolution will proceed without a game based on the pocket monsters. ...

The latest issue of Famitsu features an article covering Nintendo's next-generation Revolution console. While the magazine didn't present any new information on the machine since May's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), it did note that the Revolution could possibly play more than 200 Nintendo games from days past. During its E3 press conference, one of Nintendo's strong points was the announcement that not only would the Revolution be online-ready, but it would be able to download and play titles from the company's vast library.


To date, the company has released 221 games for its consoles in Japan: 74 titles on the Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System), 54 titles on the Super Famicom (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), 45 titles on the Nintendo 64, and 43 titles on the GameCube. Neither Famitsu nor Nintendo has officially confirmed whether all 221 past titles from Nintendo will actually be downloadable for play on the Revolution. The figures presented by the magazine are simply head counts of past titles released on Nintendo's consoles, which serve as a rough estimate to the volume of games that consumers could possibly download and play on the Revolution.

However, it's also possible that the Revolution will actually end up playing more than 221 games. In a previous interview with Reuters, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata disclosed that he is in talks with third-party game publishers about including their old Nintendo console games in the Revolution's downloadable game library. Pricing for Revolution downloads hasn't been decided, though two possibilities are to charge users per game, or to sell prepaid cards in stores.

But will all of Nintendo's published games actually make it to the Revolution? One issue that could hinder the availability of some of the company's games is copyright problems. It's already happened with Nintendo's recent Game Boy Advance title, Mawaru Made In Wario (WarioWare: Twisted!). While Mawaru Made In Wario included minigames that were based on classic NES titles, the graphics and names for Kung-Fu and Mike Tyson's Punch-Out were altered from their originals, apparently to avoid intellectual property issues. (Kung-Fu was originally released in Japan as Spartan X, which borrowed the name of a 1984 Jackie Chan movie.)

Elsewhere in the article, the Revolution ranked as the top next-generation console of interest for Famitsu readers in the latest issue with 226 votes. The PlayStation 3 ranked second with 183 votes, and the Xbox 360 was third with 117 votes.

With very little spec details disclosed during E3, the Revolution has been the subject of many rumors and speculation, to which Nintendo's public representatives have not commented on. Aside from the already common assumption that the console's controller is where the real revolution will be, some media outlets are hypothesizing that the console itself might be meant to be carried around, thus the reason for it being as small as three DVD cases. Its quaint size could allow users without Internet connections to carry the console to a wireless hotspot and hook up to the Web. Another possible feature of the Revolution is the stand that snaps on to it might actually turn out to be a cradle for recharging, which would explain why Nintendo presented it together with the console at the E3. ...

News from Lik Sang

There was many a day last year when a black Nintendo DS was nothing more than a dream. Since then though we've seen black and white, followed by turquoise and candy pink, plus a PokePark limited edition and a Pepsi promotional piece. Today the next flavor was announced however, and launching simultaneously with Naruto: Jump Super Stars on August 8th, Nintendo predicts it'll be red hot.

As with the silver, black and two blue NDS editions, this red colored version retains its stylish black base and buttons. The picture above is a preliminary internal sketch, final design will be revealed when available. Preorders are already taken right now for US$ 169.90 only.
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News from Lik Sang

There's an attack on the UN by a mysterious new terrorist force known as Heaven's Smile! Everyone they touch turns into a mindless walking time bomb with a sadistic grin on their face. Then, just to add to the fun, they blow up everyone they approach, and can turn invisible too. So who does the government call in to save the day? A wheelchair bound assign named Harman Smith. Riggggght. This army of one though, is actually seven split personalities, each more twisted than the last. You can switch between them anytime in game, and each have their own skills to help kill who ever they deem "deserving to die". Need someone knifing? Kevin's your man. Have a hankering for the extra power of two grenade launchers? Say hello to Mask. Others feature lock picking abilities, sniper skills, and more, such as a female that can even use her own blood to break through barriers!

In Killer 7 a good bloody splattering doesn't go unappreciated. After a night of your team painting the town red, you bottle the enemies blood and can use it to unlock more powers or restore health, depending on your flavor of choice: thin or thick. Thus the more blood you blow out of an enemy, the better, and the thick stuff lets you personalize each personality even further.

Announced three years ago, the unique visuals got almost all the attention with Killer 7, but now the gameplay has been revealed, it seems that same level of creativity flows right through all the veins of this sicko title. The game clearly got Famitsu's seal of approval too, with a whopping 36/40 review score! The two disc GameCube version is in stock and shipping right now, while the PlayStation 2 edition comes out on Thursday the 9th.

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