via Computer and Video Games



US Nintendo DS owners will soon be able to download DS games through their Wii, Nintendo US boss Reggie Fils-Amie has told the New York Times.

The service will offer both complete games and demos, which will be directly downloaded to Wii via broadband, then wirelessly transmitted to DS.

Additional content for newer titles will also be a possibility, with new puzzles already confirmed for the upcoming Professor Layton.

Nintendo looks to be widening the range of services it provides as its user base also grows. At a baseball game last year in Seattle, fans could watch the game, order food and view statistics, all using their handheld console.

Whether this is just whimsical experimenting on the part of Nintendo's research team is a matter for debate, but it sounds interesting to us.

Currently there is no confirmation that the service will arrive in the UK, but given there's little reason for it not to, we speculatively expect to hear more later this year. ...

via Eurogamer


Welcome yourself back to work today by downloading Metal Slug 3 from Xbox Live Arcade - as said in a Somerfield-advert-like way.

It will set you back 800 Microsoft Points (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.30) and lets you enjoy the old run and gun title in fancy new high definition resolutions and with a friend in co-operative online multiplayer.

Other than that and the usual spattering of 12 Achievements, the blend of platform action remains the same; filled with vehicles called Slugs to parade around in as quartet of heroes Marco, Tarma, Eri and Fio battle to stop evil General Morden from doing dastardly things.

Those of you in the US and Canada will also be able to enjoy SpongeBob SquarePants Underpants Slam! today, you lucky devils, and we will let you know as soon as we do when us Europeans can experience it. ...

via Eurogamer


EA Japan has whipped the festive wrappers off of plans for a second SimCity DS game.

The sequel was spotted in the latest issue of Famitsu, handily scanned by DS-x2, and features a couple of shots and some words we cannot understand.

However, according to Kotaku the premise will be similar to Civilization, and let you build settlements through the ages, from cavemen to the industrial revolution.

We are still waiting to hear back from EA UK whether it will be available here, but will let you know when we do.

SimCity DS was released in July last year but failed to really live up to its obvious potential, preferring wacky mini-games and puzzles to the franchise's familiar strategical depth.

Still, it was far from awful and clearly demonstrated it can and does work on the handheld. Pop over to our SimCity DS review to find out more. ...

via Games Industry


Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed has finished 2007 at the top of the UK's all formats charts with a drop of only 7 per cent in sales.

Electronic Arts' FIFA 08 missed out on the top spot by around 1000 sales, for the week ended December 31.

The Christmas number one, Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, has slipped down the charts to number three with a 37 per cent decline in sales.

Sales of EA's The Simpsons Game fell by 24 per cent as it dropped one place to number four, while Need for Speed Pro Street stays at number five, with sales down 23 per cent.

The only game in the top ten to see sales increase for the period was Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, as the game moved up the charts from number 13 to number six.

THQ's WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 is at seven, Nintendo's More Brain Training is at eight, Activision's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock at nine and Sega's The Golden Compass enters the top ten at ten. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Skype, a program that allows you to talk to people for free via the internet, is headed for the PSP, Sony has revealed.

The voice-over-IP client works a bit like MSN, but specialises in voice transfer; you build up a friends list or simply dial the number of the Skype account you want to contact, and it works like a phone from there on in.

Although Sony hasn't given it the whole press-release treatment, the revelation comes from an easily miss-able mention on their official site for the upcoming CES show.

"Call friends, talk trash to fellow gamers or catch up with acquaintances via Skype for PSP system," Sony states. Note, Sony expects you to talk trash - try having an intellectual conversation with gamers and the PSP will explode (maybe).

Expect specific details - tech specs and release - to come out of CES and related conferences, kicking off on Monday. We'll be there to cover it all, of course. ...

via Computer and Video Games


We've got 42 shots of the awesome-looking No More Heroes, of which we recently posted NGamer's import review.

NGamer writes of the Japanese import version: "Violence, sex, things to see, things to collect, spectacular graphics and even better sound, a sense of humour, a sense of purpose, an insane logic running through every fibre - and enough swearing to get your telly banned by the BBFC. Killer7 creator Suda51 is back, all right."

As you can probably tell, they liked it. You can find the full review here, once you've thumbed through all 42 shots below.


Screenshots here ...

via Gizmodo




Someone on the BlackBerry forums with the handle "Cooper" who claims to hail from Waterloo, Ontario (RIMs Canadian HQ) has posted what appears to be a photo of the upcoming Blackberry 9000 series. If this photo is the real deal, you can plainly see that the much-rumored touchscreen functionality would not be part of the equation. Before you get all disappointed, keep in mind that this could be anything from a mock-up to a really awesome fake. ...

via Kotaku


Nintendo's fiscal year may not end until March, but with the year the company's been having chances are pretty good that the company could be announcing that they expect to do better than predicted in January. That's what happened at the beginning of this year and if doesn't happen again at the beginning of next year there's a chance that investors could be a little ticked, according to an anonymous Nintendo Stock Blogger. It's ironic that the companies success could lead investors to expect constant jumps in earnings.
Of course with record Wii sales, sell-outs around the country and rumors that the Wii may be about to take the top console spot you'd think an upward modification has to be in the cards. My money is on big financial news in the coming weeks. ...

via Kotaku


New numbers have come from Famitsu, who has broken down Japanese sales figures on the top 50 Xbox 360 games since launch. None of the results are good. While Blue Dragon, an RPG by famous Final Fantasy developer Hironobu Sakaguchi was indeed Japan's most successful 360 title, it only sold 202,740 copies. (So it would seem Microsoft had the idea right, just not the scale). Dead or Alive 4 comes in at number 2 with 108,618 and Halo 3 is all the way back at spot 4 with 82,987.

So what's the grand total of all the top 50 Xbox 360 games sold in Japan? 1,818,924. Ouch. Hit the jump for the full list that's accurate up to Dec 9th, 2007.
Xbox 360 top 50 game sales totals in Japan
01. Blue Dragon - 203,740
02. Dead or Alive 4 - 108,618
03. Ace Combat 6 - 83,045
04. Halo 3 - 82,987
05. Ridge Racer 6 - 73,501
06. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - 72,274
07. Trusty Bell - 70,244
08. Gears of War - 68,270
09. Dead Rising - 68,078
10. Lost Planet - 61,555
11. DEAD OR ALIVE Xtreme 2 60544
12. Lost Odyssey - 60,376
13. Idolm@ster - 48,695
14. Dynasty Warriors 6 - 44,292
15. Assasin's Creed - 41,436
16. Ninetynine Nights - 38,019
17. Forza Motorsports - 2 31,255
18. Rumble Roses XX - 29,187
19. Crackdown - 28,588
20. Culdcept Saga - 27,960
21. Earth Defense Force 3 - 27,087
22. Perfect Dark Zero - 26,085
23. Test Drive Unlimited - 25,788
24. PGR3 - 25,058
25. Beautiful Katamari - 24,186
26. World Soccer Winning Eleven X - 21,904
27. Armored Core 4 - 21,096
28. Dead Rising (Xbox 360 Platinum Collection) - 20,325 (total sales 88,313)
29. [eM] eNCHANT arM - 20,233
30. Saint's Row - 18,593
31. Rainbow Six Vegas - 18,592
32. Oneechanbara vorteX - 18,443
33. Need for Speed Most Wanted - 17,973
34. Bulletwitch - 16,241
35. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 - 15,994
36. PlayOnline/Final Fantasy XI All-in-One Pack 2006 - 15,754
37. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2008 - 15,090
38. Idolm@ster (Xbox 360 Platinum Collection) - 14,864 (total sales 63,559)
39. Earth Defense Force 3 (Xbox 360 Platinum Collection) - 14,707 (total sales 41,794)
40. Final Fantasy XI Wings of the Goddess Expansion - 14,412
41. Call of Duty 3 - 14,194
42. Virtua Fighter 5 Live Arena - 13,169
43. Chrome Hounds - 13,110
44. Tenchu Z - 12,974
45. Project Sylpheed - 12,283
46. PGR 4 - 12,237
47. Viva Pinata - 12,184
48. Godfather - 11,670
49. Dynasty Warriors 5 Special - 10,957
50. Bulletwitch (Xbox360 Platinum Collection) - 10,857 (total sales 27,098) ...