via Gizmodo


The best news on the Wii front since the imminent arrival of the Wii MotionPlus add-on for the Wii's remote is today's revelation that Nintendo is going to keep the cost of the MotionPlus down.

According to the latest from Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, the company is aiming to keep the cost of the peripheral so low so that people can afford to buy them for all of their Wiimotes.

He told the WSJ:


Wii MotionPlus clicks onto the bottom of the Wiimote to greatly improve the responsiveness of the controller on-screen. It makes it far more accurate and promises instant response between your swishing arm and what happens in the game. ...

via Engadget


As some of you already know, updating your iPhone to firmware 2.0.1 means that you've lost access to all your jailbroken apps. That's pretty much expected and should be rectified by the DevTeam soon enough. What's notable from an unlocking perspective, however, is that Apple's 2.0.1 release also updates the iPhone 3G baseband. This puts iPhone 3G owners in a bit of a quandary: update now via iTunes in desperate hopes of the stability and improved keyboard response we've been seeing but do so at the risk of not being able to unlock your iPhone 3G in the future (if and when the DevTeam gets around to releasing it for firmware 2.0).

A lot can happen in the course of a 2 year (or longer) carrier commitment. According to the DevTeam, you'll get all the benefits of Apple's 2.0.1 update (without the pesky new baseband) just as soon as they can kick out the updated PwnageTool (current version is 2.0.1) onto the Internets. Decisions, decisions. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Importers of the Japanese Wii game Fatal Frame IV are reporting a number bugs have made the final release of the game, including one that locks the game up.

According to posters on NeoGaf, the game locks up when a certain condition is triggered, entries in the game database are blank and an extra option available only after competition can not be selected.

Nintendo of Japan has responded to the problem, but unfortunately we can't read Japanese. If you're better than us and went to more than two of your Kanji lessons, try reading it here.

Fatal Frame IV is currently without both a European or US release date. Hopefully if we see it over here they'll use the extra time to patch it up too. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Empire Interactive has revealed that Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams is on its way to the DS.

Billed as a mini-game adventure, the title follows Kitty in her recent move to the big city.

Kitty's ultimate goal is to own a top-floor penthouse apartment, which she's going to get by collecting Friendship Points. If only it was that easy Kitty. We'll have to try that on our landlord at the end of the month.

These points are collected by helping Sanrio characters like Badtz-Maru, Pochacco and My Melody and even some new friends. My Melody needs some fashion advice, Tuxedosam needs a waitress and Kerropi's Arcade Hero score needs to be beat.

After a stressful day, players must take Kitty on a night out to get plastered and find her crush Daniel Star at Destination: Dance. Seriously. Well, apart from the getting plastered part.

Hello Kitty: Big City Dreams hits DS this autumn. ...

via Computer and Video Games


An adventure game based on the popular 'Hardy Boys' book series will be coming to the Wii.

The game, already in development for PC, is titled Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft and follows the pair as they investigate the burglary of the Spencer Mansion vault.

Predictably for adventure games, the boys soon find themselves in the middle of a major criminal investigation.

Jesse McCartney and Cody Linley will voice The Hardy Boys, who appeared in boy band Dreamstreet and television series Hannah Montana respectively. We desperately feel dated as we have no idea who these people are, even after looking on Wikipedia.

Expect The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft in Q2 of next year. ...

via Kotaku


It looks like trophies are all the rage on the Playstation 3 these days. Following news of trophy arrivals on Uncharted, and details on the Bioshock trophies, comes word that Warhawk's trophies will be hitting on Aug. 27 as part of a free download.

The Warhawk update 1.5 will include more than 50 tophies to unlock based on performance, modes, weapons, vehicles and expansion packs. Some will even work retroactively, meaning you won't need to reearn them.

Here's a run down of the example Warhawk trophies listed over on the UK Playstation site. Keep in mind this is all on the UK site, so it's not clear when this will be hitting the U.S. and other regions.

Community Building Trophies
- Bandwidth Donor: Host a ranked dedicated server for four consecutive hours.
- Rivalry: Win a clan match (red server) as either clan leader or a regular member.

Game Mode Trophies
- Lone Wolf: Play a perfect Deathmatch (first place, no deaths).
- Survivalist: Survive for one minute as the hero in Hero mode.

Vehicle Trophies
- Taxi Driver: Help a teammate capture the flag (in Capture the Flag) or cores (in Collection) by transporting him back to the base, using any vehicle.
- One In A Million: Shoot down an enemy aircraft using the tank's main cannon.

Warhawk Weapons Trophies
- How Did You Do That?: Destroy an enemy aircraft with a Cluster Bomb.
- Tail Shaker: Destroy an enemy aircraft with an Aerial Mine within five seconds of deploying it.

The new update will also add 20 new aircraft paint schemes, 50 new insignias, a playable training tutorial and support for custom music tracks from the Home menu. Home menu support, expanded Home beta? Home must really be getting close to hitting. ...

via Eurogamer


Soulcalibur IV has battled to the top of the UK all-formats chart this week, becoming the fastest-selling game ever in the fighting series.

The title (we're using publisher Ubisoft's spelling, before you put the dogs on us) also becomes only the second in the series to hold the top spot, after Soulcalibur II held the lead for a week back in 2003.

PS2 sales of Soulcalibur II were dwarfed by PS3 sales of Soulcalibur IV by more than three to one, although Xbox 360 took the lion's share of the latter with 56 per cent of the money-pie.

The popularity of this latest instalment could be put down to a ballsy early August release after a barren patch on the release schedule, or perhaps the inclusion of Star Wars favourites Yoda and Darth Vader. Our Soulcalibur IV review will fill you in on the rest.

Elsewhere in the charts it was business as usual; Wii Fit surged in sales but slipped to two, Mario Kart Wii held on at three, Wall-E stuttered at four and Big Beach Sports leapt from 10 to five.

Wii Play extends an age-defying sales record at six, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympics proves you can launch the November before your mimicked sporting event and still be on the blocks for the starting gun. Test its wee.

Then comes Brain Training, followed by former chart-topper LEGO Indiana Jones dropping from five to 10.

Elsewhere are few surprises; perhaps Need for Speed: ProStreet speeding from 40 to 28, or the reappearance of LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga at 31.

This week waves goodbye to Alone in the Dark, which should reappear in November with the arrival of the rumoured-to-be-improved PS3 version.

1. Soulcalibur IV (Xbox 360, PS3)
2. Wii Fit (Wii)
3. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
4. WALL-E (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
5. Big Beach Sports (Wii)
6. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)
7. Wii Play (Wii)
8. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii, DS)
9. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
10. LEGO Indiana Jones (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
11. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PC, DS)
12. Kung Fu Panda (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
13. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
14. Carnival: Funfair Games (Wii)
15. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, DS)
16. Battlefield: Bad Company (Xbox 360, PS3)
17. Sports Party (Wii)
18. More Brain Training (DS)
19. FIFA 08 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii, PS2, DS, PSP)
20. Beijing 2008 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3)
21. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, Xbox 360)
22. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
23. Top Spin 3 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)
24. The Simpsons Game (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
25. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PC, DS, PSP)
26. Ben 10: Protector of Earth (Wii, DS, PS2, PSP)
27. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
28. Need For Speed ProStreet (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
29. Cooking Mama 2 (Wii, DS)
30. Mario Kart DS (DS)
31. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS)
32. SEGA Superstars Tennis (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DS)
33. Sight Training (DS)
34. Race Driver: GRID (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
35. Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (Wii, DS)
36. Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS)
37. Cooking Mama (DS)
38. Football Manager 2008 (PC, Xbox 360)
39. Sports Island (Wii)
40. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii)

...

via Eurogamer


Konami says DS island survival sequel-sequel Lost in Blue 3 will be here in October.

We reviewed the game on US import earlier this year and stamped 7/10 at the bottom.

"The Lost in Blue series is still the most compelling and realistically punishing take on the excitement and hardships of survival on a desert island that videogames have to offer," we said.

Konami also confirmed Castlevania - Order of Ecclesia for European release on DS this Christmas.

This has 20 levels before you face off with Dracula, plus Wi-Fi madness where you can not only fight friends but trade with them. ...

via Gizmodo


Another PS3 update, another round of complaints. It seems as if people on the official Playstation forums are having issues with discs not reading, games locking up, and fans blowing out of control under the recent 2.42 firmware update. We don't know if it's just uber-paranoid people who were burned by 2.40 or an actual problem that Sony will need to fix. What about you—any problems with the 2.42 update or are things just peachy? ...