It's hard to call two incidents of some occurrence around the world a trend, but, when those incidents both involve an electrical device catching fire spontaneously, it creates a situation that's hard to ignore -- especially when that device is the iPhone. On Saturday, Italian blogger Tim Colbourne was charging his 3G handset and, after three hours, it sparked and caught fire at the base. Tim did a little investigation and found a case of a Swedish handset doing the same thing back in 2008, making us a little concerned that there could be more melted chargers out there. Apple replaced that earlier phone after something of a fight, and while we're hoping they'll be a little friendlier here, we're also hoping this gives Cupertino another bit of incentive to go ahead and switch over to micro-USB already. All the cool kids are doing it, and you don't see their cables catching fire -- usually.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/i...than-we-think/ ...

Kreationz posted this news concerning the next Beta of the N64 Emulator for the PSP:


What would you like to see addressed in future betas of DaedalusX64 ? ...

Square Enix has at long last given the official Japanese Final Fantasy XIII site a major update, with new screens and even a message from producer Yoshinori Kitase.

The screens (accessible under the "character" section of the site) show off the characters we introduced here at IGN last week. Yes, you can now have your first moderately-sized look at Team Nora, including Gadot, Lebreau, and Maqui. These three don't appear to be primary characters, as they're all bunched together while Snow, Lightening and Vanille get their own pages.

There's a bit of new information at the site regarding the characters. Gadot and Lebreau are revealed to not only be subordinates of Snow in Nora, but also his childhood friends. Maqui, who was previously revealed to look up to Snow, is described as lacking confidence, and being not too big on fighting.

For everything else, we'll refer you to our writeup from last week.

The "message" section of the site has also been updated. Following up on the first message from director Motomu Toriyama, producer Yoshinori Kitase is in the hot seat for this update. He mostly teases in his message, revealing that as he creates the message he's viewing FFXIII running on dev kits. The ability to play FFXIII in advance of everyone else in the world is the thing that makes him happy about developing FFXIII, he says, adding that players will get a chance to experience a similar feeling when the FFXIII demo hits Japan in April.

Kitase also teases at a few names:

"Strategic battles using using XXXXX"

"Summon beasts like Shiva and XXXXX"

"Lightning does XXXXXX to XX and XX..."

The Xs represent Japanese characters. If you can figure out what they are, you get to advance directly to Final Fantasy XIV.

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/959/959134p1.html ...

For those who found Street Fighter IV to be a little bit too 3D, Arc System Works may have the game you're looking for. The latest issue of Famitsu has first word on a home version of the publisher's latest arcade fighter, BlazBlue. Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 will get a conversion of the game, with a Japanese release planned for summer.

BlazBlue is a high definition 2D fighter from the makers of Guilty Gear. Known for its sharp visuals, the game is now available for play in arcades. Be sure and check out all our coverage of the arcade version.

The home versions will see some big additions. Most notable is an all new story mode, with individual stories on offer for each character. This mode promises branching stories based off both battle results and player choices, along with full voice for all dialog. Arc has even gotten Studio Gonzo to work on animated sequences!

It appears that this story mode will be huge in terms of volume, with general director Toshimichi Mori joking with the magazine that the staff complained about there being too much content! Players can expect the equivalent of a full Japanese-style dialog-based adventure game, with over 30 hours of play time.

Also new for the home is network compatibility. Players throughout the world can look forward to online matches along with online rankings and a viewing mode. Download content is also being planned.

The game will also see a few gameplay changes, most notably the addition of Astral Heat special moves for all characters. In the arcade version, only a few of the boss characters had access to these moves.

Since online play is confirmed to be worldwide, we're going to assume Arc has some plans for BlazBlue in international markets. We'll let you know once something official is announced outside of Japan.

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/959/959132p1.html ...

World in Conflict was first announced as coming to Xbox 360 back in 2007 by publisher Sierra Entertainment. Later, the ambitions shifted to the sequel, World in Conflict: Soviet Assault and the PlayStation 3 entered the picture. When Vivendi, parent company of Sierra, merged with Activision, many of Sierra's projects were canceled or dropped, including Soviet Assault. It was later saved by Ubisoft when that company purchased the World in Conflict developer, Massive Entertainment.

However, it seems that Ubisoft's ambitions are not as grand as Sierra's were. When contacted for an update on the console release, Ubisoft provided this statement, "World of Conflict: Soviet Assault will be released for the PC later this month. A console version of World in Conflict is not planned for release at this time."

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/958/958673p1.html ...

Ignition Entertainment sent out word today that is sure to please fighting game fans here in the U.S. The King of Fighters XII, the next installment in SNK Playmore's popular franchise, is heading to the states this July for the PS3 and 360. According to the press release, this three-on-three fighter features a "complete graphical overhaul. The antiquated character sprites used over the past 14 years have been dropped in favor of all-new, high-resolution fighters fluidly animating across painstakingly detailed, 100% hand-drawn backgrounds."

Masaaki Kukino from SNK Playmore comments: "our development slogan for KOFXII is 'KOF Re-Birth' and we've aimed to create an entirely new King of Fighters game." Although no other details are given in the press release, this news is sure to please long-time King of Fighters enthusiasts, especially in the wake of Street Fighter IV's notable success, both critically and commercially.

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/958/958660p1.html ...

Every word's a winner in this revamped digital version of everyone's favorite word game! SCRABBLE on the Nintendo DS and PSP will offer something for every crossword puzzle fan. Fans of the traditional version of SCRABBLE can get the authentic SCRABBLE experience in Classic mode, and more experienced players can race the clock in Speed mode. Those who want a new twist on the classic SCRABBLE experience can battle it out against friends or the computer in the fast-paced SCRABBLE SLAM mode, based on the upcoming spring 2009 card game from Hasbro in which players try to be the first to discard all their SLAM cards by making four letter words. SCRABBLE SLAM will be available for the first time digitally on the handheld versions of SCRABBLE.

With six difficulty levels, SCRABBLE will also serve up a Training mode with six training exercises that enable new or rusty players to polish their skills before their first big showdown. SCRABBLE comes loaded with extras such as the Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary, SCRABBLE Word Finder, which provides hints on best words, and Wi-Fi multiplayer capability (both single and multi-cart play for Nintendo DS).

GAME FEATURES

Three Modes of Play



Choose Classic mode to play the timeless, traditional version of SCRABBLE.

Race the clock as you take on the computer or friends in Speed mode.

Put your skills to the test in the SCRABBLE SLAM card game, the newest take on the classic SCRABBLE experience.


Your SCRABBLE Trainer!


Like never before, you can strengthen your vocabulary, pattern recognition, and point strategies through fun and interactive training exercises.

You then can apply your newfound skills in real games against your friends and family as well as our adaptable computer A.I.

Track your progress with the game's built-in Skill Tracker and see how you've improved in each training category.


Wi-Fi Multiplayer Fun


Challenge your friends and connect with up to four players in Classic, Speed, or SCRABBLE SLAM modes.

Nintendo DS multiplayer modes include Hot Seat (multiple players passing one console), DS Download play (one-cartridge multiplayer) and Multi-Cart play (multiple cartridges allow players to customize game rules and enable additional game features).

PSP multiplayer modes include Hot Seat and Ad Hoc play (head-to-head multiplayer).


EA Brings SCRABBLE Full Circle


In 2008, EA launched authentic digital versions of SCRABBLE online at Pogo.com, three separate mobile versions on iPod, iPhone and mobile phones as well as social networking sites.

2009 rounds it out with SCRABBLE on the Nintendo DS and PSP handhelds as well as a version for Xbox LIVE Arcade.


Pricing, Rating and Availability


SCRABBLE on DS and PSP is rated "E for Everyone", will carry as MSRP of $29.99 and be in stores on March 17, 2009. ...

News from Consolesource



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Nintendo of America officially revealed this week that the upcoming Wii boxer, Punch-Out!!, based on the classic franchise of the same name, will support multiple control options when it debuts exclusively for the platform later this year. According to the company, players will be able to use the Wii remote motion or classic control to play the game. Control descriptions below:

Motion Control (Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers)
Punch-Out!! uses the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers to simulate throwing punches. Use the Nunchuk to throw a left punch and the Wii Remote to throw a right punch.

Classic Control (Wii Remote NES style)
Fans of the NES version and core gamers will be excited to see Nintendo has also included the option to play Punch-Out!! using the classic layout from the original NES controller. Use the 1 and 2 buttons along with the cross pad to throw hooks and jabs or to dodge.

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/958/958936p1.html ...