Dont know if they are indeed real but check em out for yourself: ...

As the battle of the next-gen consoles truly gets underway, Bill Gates has revealed what he believes is Microsoft's secret weapon - the third instalment in the Halo series, to be launched simultaneously with PS3.

That's according to an article in Time magazine, which this week depicts Gates holding an Xbox 360 on the cover. The article reads: "Note to the hardcore faithful: the next version of Halo will not, repeat not, be ready in time for the launch of Xbox 360. It will be part of the all-important second wave next spring.

""It's perfect," Gates says, radiant with bloodlust. "The day Sony launches [PS3], and they walk right into Halo 3.""

Providing Sony does indeed launch PS3 next spring, of course. CFO Takao Yuhara was recently quoted as saying "For the year end sales season, simultaneously building up both the PSP as well as the next-generation PlayStation is one option that we have" - suggesting that the console could launch by this Christmas.

All should be revealed at Sony's pre-E3 press conference, which kicks off today at 11PM UK time. ...

With only hours to go before Sony's next-generation home console's expected unveiling in Los Angeles, few details of the system are widely known - but what we do know points to an intriguing piece of hardware.

The level of secrecy surrounding PS3 is in stark contrast to the situation with Xbox 360, where everything up to and including the final specification and pictures of the hardware had been leaked to the internet by the time the machine was officially announced.

However, a number of key details about PS3 are already known, and should be confirmed by the conference later today - such as the key role which Sony's Cell microprocessor will play in the architecture of the machine.

Cell, a co-development between Sony, Toshiba and IBM, is a new processor design based on IBM's Power series (which will also lie at the heart of Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Revolution), which features eight extremely fast vector units along with a Power core.

Although early reports suggested that PS3 would use four or even eight Cell CPUs, many developers now believe that the system may only have one - but rumours from those working on early development kits, which shipped to some of Sony's closest partners earlier this year, suggest that the system will still match or even outperform the multi-processor design being used by Microsoft for Xbox 360.

The graphics chip, meanwhile, is being created by NVIDIA, which means that PS3 will fully support pixel and vertex shaders - making life a lot easier for graphics programmers - and will do more of the hard work on the GPU, freeing up the CPU's vector units to do tasks like physics and AI.

Other rumours about the hardware strongly point to the existence of two different models, one a standard console system, and the other a high-end "media server" in the mould of the somewhat ill-fated PSX.

However, Sony has yet to even confirm that the system is called "PlayStation 3" - although the presence of hoardings around Los Angeles this weekend inviting us to "Welcome Chang3" tend to suggest that the firm is indeed sticking with the sequential numbering system.

Still one of the best indicators of Sony's intentions regarding the new machine is an interview from just over a year ago with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves, where he made a number of specific comments about PlayStation 3.

The following is a reprint of key parts of that article from our report at the time - although just how much the company's strategy for PS3 will have changed in the intervening year is not known, so it's impossible to tell how well these statements will tally with what's actually revealed in Los Angeles today.

On the topic of the PlayStation 3, [SCEE president David] Reeves revealed that the company is considering launching multiple versions of the next-generation console, catering for a variety of different requirements and price points.

A version of the console described as the "home server" version would follow in the footsteps of the PSX media system, with "all-singing, all dancing features with maybe a hard disk drive" and a retail price take of "whatever it might be, �� or ��."

However, for those just seeking a new games machine rather than a fully fledged home media server, the company could offer a stripped down system catering to the needs of those who "just [want] to pay 200 Euros for a new generation games machine," Reeves said.

Reeves also confirmed that the company is investigating the possibility of electronic distribution of content over broadband for its next generation system - describing the pursuit of this as the "ultimate goal" for the PlayStation 3, and stating that Sony hopes to see always-on network access and viable broadband distribution in place when the PS3 becomes available in 2006.

"It's going to have to be 2 or 3MB, something like that," he said, speaking about connection sizes - which are currently generally at 512k (0.5MB) in most UK broadband-enabled homes. "Ken [Kutaragi]'s even talking about 30MB! And when it gets to that, then it is broadband distribution, and people then can just download whatever game they want. But it's got to be secure, and that's where DNAS [Sony's online security protocol] comes in."

Expect to see the first reports from Sony's conference appearing at around 11pm BST tonight. ...

Nintendo has announced a number of details of the Revolution next-generation console on its official website, confirming statements made by Perrin Kaplan in an interview with the New York Times last week.

The statement offers the first glimpse of a console that's described as only slightly bigger than three stacked DVD cases, backwards-compatible, wireless online out of the box, quiet and quick to start up and due out in 2006.

"In its final form, Revolution will be about the thickness of three standard DVD cases and only slightly longer. The versatile Revolution will play either horizontally or vertically, allowing the user total flexibility in setting up a gaming session wherever they have a television," the update describes.

"Thanks to Nintendo's hardware development partners IBM and ATI, the small system will be packed with power that will enable it to wow players with its graphics. Nintendo's legions of loyal fans will be happy to learn that Revolution will be backward compatible, playing both Nintendo GameCube 8cm disks along with its own 12cm optical disks in the same self-loading media drive.

"In the next generation, the addition of the Internet will be important to all consoles and particularly important to Nintendo. Revolution will be wireless Internet ready out of the box.

"There's much more to Revolution that will be revealed over the coming months, but the combination of its compact size, wireless Internet, backward compatibility, quick start-up time and quiet, low-power operation add up to the start of a great game system. Get ready for the Nintendo Revolution in 2006!"

Nintendo is expected to announce more details and perhaps show the console in video form at its 75-minute breakfast conference on Tuesday here in Los Angeles. Its rivals Microsoft and Sony will have already concluded their major E3 unveilings prior to the Nintendo event. ...

Best-selling strategy series for the Windows PC platform Age of Empires is to be made available for the Nintendo DS handheld system by Majesco Entertainment Company and Digital Eclipse.
The DS outing in the series, Age of Empires: The Age of Kings, is due to be released this summer. Age of Empires on the Windows PC platform is big business, the franchise shifting more than 16 million copies worldwide.

Ken Gold, vice president of Marketing for Majesco remarked, "Age of Empires has set the gold standard for real-time strategy games and its global audience continues to grow.

"Our portable version provides an exceptional game experience by taking advantage of the new DS features, and we are excited to have such a high-profile and well-regarded property spearhead our DS line-up for the back-half of 2005."

Players move from the Dark Ages through the Middle Ages with one goal in mind: domination of the known world. Features of Age of Empires - The Age of Kings include: commanding one of five different civilizations; controlling special 'hero' units such as Richard the Lionheart, Robin Hood, Joan of Arc and Genghis Khan, whose special 'hero' powers affect the entire battlefield; and researching over 50 different technologies like chemistry, ballistics, siege craft and spying to advance civilizations into the next age. ...

News from GC Linux Site

An alternate experimental DVD driver is now available with support for DVD-R media using the "cactus" firmware extensions (it currently works with drive 04 models only). Create a DVD device file if you don't have already one (mknod /dev/dvd b 60 0), load your DVD-R on your GameCube, mount it (mount -t iso9660 /dev/dvd /mnt), and access it just like in any other Linux. All code is available on CVS. And the Latest Kernel Build has already integrated the new code.
http://www.gc-linux.org/ ...

As usual, I’ve been debating whether I should bring my GBA or DS to E3. I go through a similar routine every morning. Yeah, it would be nice to play some Mario on the DS but the handheld is just so big. I usually settle for Advance Wars 2 on the GBA for the subway ride. But not for E3. According to Recongoddess there will be downloadable content via wireless on the floor. Hey, free stuff gets me everytime. She writes:

For those of you attending E3 you’ll want to bring your Nintendo DS with you to Nintendo’s booth. There will be an area dediated to DS Download Play. Visitors can try out samples of versions of Nintendo games delivered wirelessly, video content, and a few more surprises that Nintendo isn’t
quite ready to divulge. Plus you can pictochat with fellow GA staffers in attendance! ...

They seem real enough, so here you go (of course, it’s always a roll of the dice with all those talented fraudsters out there). The ”R” for “Revolution” is big and cushy, like Mario, so you won’t get any complaints here. It would be a great logo.

The second page is a bit of a head scratcher, though. It’s a little too 8-bit to work, even though I like the simplicity. ...

Nintendo has posted some details on the Revolution to their official site, finally giving us some insight into what the console will be like. From the site: 'It will be about the thickness of three standard DVD cases and only slightly longer.' This makes it the smallest Nintendo console yet! It will also be able to stand up, similar to the PS2, and the Xbox 360. It will be backwards compatible, and it will also play '12cm optical disks in the same self-loading media drive'. It also states that it will have a very quick start-up time, and be very quiet. It finishes by stating 'Get ready for the Nintendo Revolution in 2006!'" C|Net has an article up arguing that Nintendo is making an error in missing the 2005 Holiday season. ...