via Gizmodo



While many people are looking for ways to save money when purchasing an iPhone by weighing up contracts versus PAYG, we do not recommend putting your faith, or cash, into the above iPhone. It may look like the real deal but it's a damn fine fake from China.

The Chinese are masters at faking it, taking just about any technology gadget and fabricating excellent looking doubles. It will probably short circuit or burst into flames after a few days but at least it looked good and cost peanuts.

The photo above was sent into a forum by a Canadian user who's Dad bought it in China recently and who then encountered some 'problems' activating his new present through iTunes. The fake is a very good one and despite some minor differences - measurements are a bit off and there's a USB instead of a dock connector - the icons are all there, including an odd penguin-one for launching a Chinese game.

The packaging also looks authentic. No idea what Dad paid but it's bound to have cost a fraction of the real iPhone and, will probably last a fraction of the time too. Dad bought three of them as presents, making Dad (a) innocent tourist shopping mug or (b) a real cheapskate. See more shots below.


More shots here ...

via Computer and Video Games


Square Enix has released downloadable content for its WiiWare Final Fantasy, My Life as a King. Time to clear out the channel space, then.

Included in the DLC are three dungeon packs ranging from 100 to 300 Wii points each, and two costumes packs for 100 Wii points. 1000 points costs you about eight quid, so that's about 80p for a virtual robe.

Here's the full list of DLC:

Infinity Spire
300 Wii Points / Blocks Required: 8
Adds two dungeons to the game, such as the Infinity Spire. The spire gains levels every time it is cleared, presenting a challenge to even the bravest champions of your realm.

Castle Renovation
100 Wii Points / Blocks Required: 8
Adds a dungeon to the game which adds a jukebox and the ability to rename your adventurers in the castle once cleared.

Library
200 Wii Points / Blocks Required: 8
Adds a dungeon to the game which adds libraries to the building menu once cleared. Libraries teach adventurers race-specific abilities.

Fresh King
100 Wii Points / Blocks Required: 3
Purchase an additional costume for the king-a casual outfit designed for warmer seasons. You can change costumes in the castle immediately after downloading.

Summer Chime
100 Wii Points / Blocks Required: 3
Purchase an additional costume for Chime-a cool outfit suited for tropical climates. You can change costumes in the castle immediately after downloading.


3 Screenshots ...

via Computer and Video Games


Take a look in the 'Extras' menu of Metal Gear Solid 4 tonight and you'll find two new camo suits to download.

The Laughing Camo and Raging camo are free to download and cover snake in Japanese text, which might not sounds so great, but they'll also have enemies laughing or howling like mentalists when you get near to them in the main game.

Bizarre. Give it try... ...

via Eurogamer


Over half of the titles in the Japanese software top 10 are new entries this week, according to Media Create data (translated by NeoGaf members).

Top of the pops is a new horse racing game called Derby Stallion DS. This appeared back on N64 and has apparently been floating around in one guise or another for over a decade.

The most significant new entry, though, is Wii role-playing game Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World at two.

DJ music game Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (DS) debuts at three, followed by Shinseki Evangelion Pachislot Vol. 12 on PS2 at four. No idea.

We're similarly clueless about DS fresher Higurashi no Nakukoru ni Kizuna: Dai-Ichi-Kan at five; some sort of adventure game, apparently.

Following that is Wii Fit at six, Metal Gear Solid at seven, Mario Kart Wii at eight and Super Mario Baseball at nine.

Rounding off the chart at 10 is the unusual sight of an Xbox 360 title - in this case Gundam: Operation Troy. Might explain why sales of Microsoft's console doubled this week.

Overall the DS accounted for 24 games in the top 40, followed by Wii with nine, PSP with eight, PS2 with five, and Xbox 360 and PS3 with two.

This is also the first week Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G has spent outside the top 10, by only managing to finish at 17.

Here's that top 10 in full:

1. Derby Stallion (DS) - 148,000
2. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Wii) - 137,000
3. Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (DS) - 120,000
4. Shinseki Evangelion Pachislot Vol. 12 (PS2) - 55,000
5. Higurashi no Nakukoru ni Kizuna: Dai-Ichi-Kan (DS) - 55,000
6. Wii Fit (Wii) - 34,000 (lifetime: 2,292,000)
7. Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots (PS3) - 34,000 (lifetime: 566,000)
8. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 31,000 (lifetime: 1,508,000)
9. Super Mario Stadium Family Baseball (Wii) - 31,000 (lifetime: 89,000)
10. Gundam: Operation Troy (Xbox 360) - 28,000

...

via Computer and Video Games


Following the news of its slight skid into October, Rockstar has released four new screenshots of the promising-looking Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

The open-city PS3 and 360 racer is now due for release on October 7 in North America and October 10 in Europe, and going from what we saw of it as Game Convention last year it should certainly turn a few heads when it arrives.

The racer's basically an even more technically impressive Test Drive Unlimited, slapping you behind the bonnet in a RAGE Engine-powered Hollywood that we can't even begin to imagine how Rockstar mapped out. We recognised actual pubs.

Rockstar is also working on a PSP spin-off called LA Remix, which is being handled by the Manhunt chaps at Rockstar London. We'll be impressed if that one's got the free-roaming Los Angles bit...


Screenshots ...

via Next Generation


Smash Bros. Brawl, which also debuted at No1 in the UK chart earlier this week, was followed by fellow Wii exclusive titles Wii Fit and Wii Play.

The Xbox 360 version of Battlefield: Bad Company and DS exclusive Guitar Hero: On Tour, both of which were new entries, rounded off the top five for the week ended June 29.

Metal Gear Solid 4, which had held the top spot for the previous two weeks, slipped five places to No6, while the PS3 version of Battlefield: Bad Company debuted at No7.

Grand Theft Auto IV for PS3 was down two places to No8, while DS Pokemon titles Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness/Explorers of Time, which were new last week in third and fourth, slipped to ninth and tenth respectively.

01. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
02. Wii Fit (Wii)
03. Wii Play (Wii)
04. Battlefield: Bad Company (360)
05. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)
06. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
07. Battlefield: Bad Company (PS3)
08. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3)
09. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (DS)
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS) ...

via Next Generation


The firm told MCV that it’s planning to make regular shipments of the long-awaited PS3 pad now that it’s finally been released, but that early DualShock 3 supply levels are likely to be tight.

“It’s going to be a close call as to whether we can guarantee enough stock for everybody day one,” said Mark Howsen, SCEE’s UK sales director. “However, we’ll be making regular shipments thereafter, in order to satisfy demand.”

Howsen also said that SCEE will continue to offer the Sixaxis controller for now in order to give customers a “cost effective buying choice”.

The £39.99 DualShock 3 controller was released in Japan last November and in North America in April. ...

via Joystiq




Our first thought upon seeing this very cool hack was "that's awesome." Our second thought was "do you have to blow on it to make it work?"

BenHeck.com forum member "darkeru" created this inventive new take on a home made NES portable, which manages to squeeze all of the 8-bit dynamo's guts into a 4.1" by 5.5" space ... with a backlit LCD display. We just had a third thought: what happens when you connect it to this portable NES?


More pictures of the mod at Ben Hecks forum ...

via Next Generation


“The Home open beta is still on schedule for release later this fall,” Eric Lempel told us in a recent interview.

Having been delayed on a number of occasions, the PSN boss was keen to assure gamers that Home would be worth the long wait by promising a rich and full-bodied experience come launch later this year.

Referring to comments made last month by fellow PSN director Susan Panico, in which she said that Home’s “rollout will be similar to Gmail" and that it will function as an "open, working beta", Lempel said that the online initiative, even in its initial public form, will not be some half-finished article but rather it will be representative of what the virtual world will ultimately offer.

“If you think about Gmail and Susan’s reference, Gmail when it launched in beta was a fully functional email service. I personally was using it and it offered everything you’d expect, but was in beta just to say that there’s more to come and maybe it’s not fully polished.

“The reason we’ve been delaying [Home] is so that we can deliver a high quality service that the users will enjoy. Even though it will be in beta, it will be a fair representation of what the service can be and its potential, so it won’t be a 0.5 release, it will be a fully robust service.”

Lempel also touched briefly on Sony’s recently confirmed plans to launch a PS3 movie download service this summer, although he wouldn’t be drawn into commenting on launch dates or content details.

“I don’t have any more specifics right now, but like Kaz [Hirai] said, it will go live [in the US] this summer and I think it will offer consumers everything they’re looking for from us. It will offer everything they expect from us and probably a little bit more.”

Asked about a service launch date for Europe and Japan, Lempel said that he couldn’t “speak for the other regions at this time”.

He also declined to discuss the possibility of downloaded PS3 movies being transferable to PSP, reports that Sony has yet to secure any movie content deals with third parties, or whether the company is planning to offer TV and music content over the PlayStation Network alongside films. ...