Nintendo's Wii "News Channel" went live earlier this morning, allowing system owners to browse an Associated Press newsfeed in a variety of ways - several of which are unmistakably "Wii".

Installing the channel is as simple as visiting the Wii system menu and submitting to an update process, which takes just a few minutes. With that done, the News Channel button appears in the main menu.

When you first load it up, it confirms the time and date and then downloads information while a little cat sits on top of an advisory notice and you're left to listen to the sort of music typically associated with sleeping at the end of a "tough day" in a Final Fantasy RPG. Or maybe that's just us.

The download takes a good little while, but once it's done you're off, able to browse news by category (national/regional/international, sports, arts/entertainment, business, science/health, technology), clicking through to get a list of headlines that span the width of the page.

When you click on a story, it unrolls itself quickly with a scrumply paper sound effect, allowing you to scroll up and down in a few obvious ways - perhaps using the B trigger to drag the page around - while a little locational marker on a NASA-labelled map beams happily from the right side of the screen.

Alternatively, you can click "Globe", at which point you're transported to a close-up of wherever you are in the world. Ours showed London and a bit of mainland Europe. Key locations like Berlin and Moscow have bits of paper on top of them with numbers in brackets, signifying how many stories are tethered to each spot. Clicking an area loads up a list of stories. To go somewhere else, you simply click back and drag the world around with the Wiimote. You can also zoom in and out.

The other thing you can do on the News Channel is view a Slideshow. Like Sky News without all the sinister manipulation, you're left watching headlines appear on the bottom half of the screen one by one, as the world map sits happily on top. Pressing A as a headline appears lets you bring up the story, from which you can then either rejoin the slideshow feed or end it. It's all very intuitive, as you'd expect.

Of course, whether you'll choose it over GMTV remains to be seen, but since "GMTV" is the only morning television show we can now remember at all, it's probably safe to say all the present ones are rubbish and this is much better. Wait, hang on, Ellie says we ought to be watching Jeremy Kyle. If only.

Anyway, Nintendo has said that the News Channel will relaunch later this year - still free, mind - offering a greater regional focus. We will of course let you know when it does. In the meantime, let us know what you make of the current version. Useful, or pointless?

via eurogamer ...

Microsoft has reassured gamers worried about not finding a Halo 3 beta invitation in their copy of Crackdown.

"The initial shipment of Crackdown at retail will include access to the Halo 3 beta," a spokesperson wrote on Gamerscoreblog. "The 'initial shipment' is pretty huge, so there will be enough to go around."

And yes, that does include UK versions of the game.

It all reminds us a bit of Zone of the Enders 2, really: truckloads of gamers chomping at the bit to get their hands on one game so they can gain demo access to something else. Let's hope Real Time Worlds' effort can keep people satisfied as well as offering them a way in to another Master Chief runaround.

via eurogamer ...

via engadget



We'll admit, we definitely admired Belkin's prototype version a lot better, but Sakar is doing something with its iPod-engulfing PVP that Belkin currently isn't -- bringing it to market. The iView player mimics a portable DVD player in just about every major aspect, including the seven-inch widescreen display, built-in stereo speakers, thin frame, AV output, and rechargeable battery, but instead of letting users load up their favorite disc, it sports a sunk-in socket for one's iPod video along with a dock connector to seat your Apple and keep it well hidden while in use. While we're not positive about when Sakar plans on rolling this thing out, nor if it'll come in a white color scheme to compliment the black, it'll run you $150 when it finally lands.

More Info ...

The N64 section of the Virtual Console has been a little quiet to say the least, with Super Mario 64 being the lonesome available game, but a second N64 title has finally appeared.

The hours we lost to Mario Kart 64's multiplayer mode are uncountable. Four-player races around Koopa Troopa Beach never got old, and now UK Wii owners can relive the joy in glorious hi-res.

Turbografx game Soldier Blade also released on the Virtual Console today - a decent shooter that's worth a look... after you've thrashed Mario Kart, that is.

Mario Kart 64 costs 1000 Wii points, which works out at around £7.50, while Soldier Blade will set you back 600 points (about £4.50).

via cvg ...

via cvg

Wing Island will join Kororinpa, Hudson's other Japanese-only Wii game, in making its way to western gamers in March.

You may remember Wing Island as a tech demo originally shown to demonstrate the tilt-sensing capabilities of the Wii Remote. It features a unique control system which has players holding the Remote almost like a paper plane, with the on-screen mimicking your movements as you tilt and twisting the Remote.

After completing your pilot training, you set one varying mission objectives that test your plane control - from dropping water onto forest fires to catching a number of rogue cows hiding around the island. It's a slower and than your average

Screenshots Via Comments ...

via cvg

Developer Deadline Games' PSP shooter Chili Con Carnage is splattering action around in new screenshots and a new gameplay trailer - which you can see right here on this page.

Chili Con Carnage is a sequel of sorts to Deadline's Total Overdose, and features OTT combat in sunny Mexico. Players take on the role of Ramiro Cruz, a man out to avenge the assassination of his dad by giving hell and bullets to a drug cartel.

Screenshots Via Comments ...

A statement made by Hudson Entertainment's director of marketing, John Lee, in an interview with Game Informer, sparked a rumour that Nintendo could be making a new 'Games Channel' for Wii through which it will deliver new downloadable games.

When asked if Hudson plans to release any original content through the Virtual Console, Lee responded: "Well, the VC was specifically designed to bring back classic games, not to introduce new content. So to answer your question specifically: No.

"However, in the future, you should rephrase that question to: Are there any plans to launch original content on some downloadable service on the Wii, and you might get a different answer."

Curious as to what he may have meant by that, CVG contacted Nintendo and got this response: "Nintendo has developed a programming system that will allow small independent developers to make games for Wii download service.

"We cannot confirm at this time in what format the new content will be delivered, but in the future there will be original games available for download through the Wii Shop."

For those of you who don't know, Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, spoke of such a development tool at various games events last year, allowing low-cost game production for Wii. Anyone who got hooked on Geometry Wars on 360 knows how exciting this prospect is.

It's currently unknown when the proposed original game content will be made available to download, although it is unlikely that they'll be delivered through the Virtual Console.

via cvg ...

Iv just received conformation from Nintendo via e-mail on my Wii, this is what Nintendo has to say

Response via Nintendo-

Thank you very much for supporting Nintendo.

We're happy to announce that the News Channel is now available! Even better, it's free of charge.

With the News Channel, you can check out the headlines and complete text of the most important news stories covering regional, international, sports, entertainment, technology, business, science, and health topics.

In addition, you can view slides shows of news stories and even see where on the globe stories are breaking.

We hope you'll enjoy all the features the News Channel has to offer.

This is a update. To use this feature simply update you Wii Console. ...

With the recent release of Popstation everyone is trying to squeeze the best out of their Memory Cards, heres the options available to you

1) 4GB Sandisk Memory Stick Pro Duo



4GB Sandisk Memory Stick Pro Duo, Retailing at $116 and is the easiest option to have big files on your PSP, but is it the cheapest.

2) SD Card Adapter / 4GB SD Card Combo

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Play Asia sell both the SD Card Adapter and 4GB SD Memory Card, the price for both works out to be $125 but at least you can use the SD Card on other systems.

3) 4GB Hard Drive



Datels 4GB Hard Drive is the cheapest weighing in at $108 but also sticks out the most on the back. You also get a Double Strength Battery.

4) PSP Bank with 40GB Hard Drive



This option works with the other options and not really on its own, the idea is a great one, 40 GBs of space but the 3 above are the best in my opinion

So there you go 3 good options and one curious option, What option interests you the most ? ...