As part of Gamasutra's visit to Shanghai for this week's ChinaJoy game exhibition, we've discovered that Xbox 360 game piracy appears to be spreading notably in the country, with at least one vendor offering Xbox 360 titles such as Hitman: Blood Money for around 30 Chinese yuan ($3.50).

This development has occurred after an incident in March 2006, in which hackers managed to flash changes to the BIOS on the Xbox 360's Optical Disc Drive which allowed non-authenticated (copied) games to be played. Further information on the hack surfaced in late May, when other parties appear to have released a public version of the exploit, and Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog published an Official response to the problem.

At the time, the company's John Porcaro noted: "The core security system has not been broken. However, on some Xbox 360 consoles the authentication protocol between the optical disc drive and the console may be attacked via a complex software and hardware modification which could allow people to play illegally copied and modified games. We continue to invest in the security of the platform and will respond appropriately as unauthorized activity is identified."

Obviously, it seems likely that connecting to Xbox Live will, at some point, download system updates which will prevent continued playing of pirate titles. In addition, it appears that pirated versions of PlayStation 2 and Xbox discs are much more common on the market stalls throughout Shanghai, thanks to the high cost of the Xbox 360 relative to average Chinese wages. ...

Via IGN

The Nintendo DS Lite may be one of the sleekest and sexiest handheld systems the company has ever released, but that doesn't mean it's the most durable. Or even unsusceptible to defects or design issues. The system has only been on the market for a little more than a month now in the US -- add another couple of months to that thanks to the earlier launch of the system in Japan. And in that time, tiny issues have sprouted up from the purchasers of the first generation units.

Don't consider yourself lucky if you've escaped the wrath of these defects with a pristine Nintendo DS system - perfection is the way it should be, and the chances are high that a perfect system is what you'll get. Status quo. Instead, consider yourself unlucky if you happen to find one or more of these symptoms in your handheld unit.

If you feel that you do have a defect, Nintendo of America's customer service is notoriously top-notch. Representatives will do everything in their power to make sure you're happy with your purchase, and if you do end up with a problematic Nintendo DS Lite system under its 12-month warranty. If it breaks on your own accord, you may be required to pay a repair fee. Contact information for Nintendo's customer service is located on the bottom of your Nintendo DS system.

Symptom: Dead pixels on one or both screens

Description: This is easily the most common of the handheld market, and it's not solely an issue with the Nintendo DS. Any LCD display is susceptible to an always off or always on pixel in its display, a defect that slips through the quality assurance check at the LCD manufacturing plant. The Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance SP, and PSP have had this issue since they hit the market - cellphone, computer desktop PC, and HDTV LCDs are also at risk.

"Dead" pixels can be black, white, red, green, blue - essentially a "dead" pixel is one where one of the millions of dots on the screen remains on or off even when it's supposed to be a specific color. They're noticeable on a very white or very black image, but stick out like a sore thumb because they don't move when the image does.

Recommendation: It's all depending on your tolerance for unmoving tiny dots, and where the dead pixel is located on the screen. Contact Nintendo's customer service if the pixel gets unnerving and distracting, or you have more than one to deal with.

Symptom: Cracked hinge.

Description: On the external portion of the Nintendo DS Lite system, a single - but obvious - crack will form along the hinge. According to sources, this is caused by an overtightening in the Nintendo DS Lite manufacturing process. It's a common defect, but in the swing of things, it's an uncommon occurrence.

Recommendation: The crack is only cosmetic on the plastic surrounding the hinge mechanism - it doesn't affect the integrity of the hinge itself. If the crack really affects you in a Tony Shaloub's Monk sort of way, then Nintendo will replace your system if you contact them.

Symptom: D-Pad has weak diagonals.

Description: The D-pad has four internal contact switches: up, down, left and right. In order for Nintendo DS games to recognize a diagonal direction from your thumb, it has to press two contacts at the same time: up + right, up + left, down + right, down + left. The Nintendo DS Lite system seems to require a little more pressure to activate a diagonal direction. If you let up on the pressure, even if the D-pad is still pressed into the system, your on-screen character may end up just going in one of the up/down/left/right directions.

Recommendation: Unfortunately, this is just the way the DS Lite's D-pad was built. Most of our systems have this issue. One of our systems in particular feels like it has a physical abnormality inside of the unit that causes a plastic-against-plastic "pop" effect. This is the extreme case - if your D-pad "pops," contact Nintendo for a replacement. Otherwise, just learn to press more firmly for the diagonals.

Symptom: Shifting Touch-screen

Description: Pressing on the corners or edges of the Nintendo DS touch screen will cause the panel to slightly "give" under the thumb. It's a slight, insignificant, but noticeable shift.

Recommendation: It's a harmless "settling" of the touch screen panel over the LCD screen that you shouldn't be concerned about. Though we've had a touch screen that eventually lost its sensitivity and it had to be replaced. If your Picto-Chat sessions start getting all screwy and scribbly that's not due to your lousy penmanship, contact Nintendo for a replacement/repair.

Symptom: Yellowish screen.

Description: One of the screens has a slightly yellower tint than the other.

Recommendation: Live with it. This is something that's only noticeable on bright white screens - like, say, the boot up screen where it displays the Nintendo DS logo and the Seizure warning on a flat white screen where you can compare the two displays on the same level. ...

Jordan Keeler, one of the snot-nosed morons (he takes it as a compliment) behind smashsomestuff.com created this oddly familiar tissue-dispensing alarm clock in honor of this blog. Thanks man. There's no clock display shown in this case mod pic, but he says the ring of light functions as a snooze button. Time to re-purpose that Core System, especially if you suffer from a runny nose.

More Info ...

It has emerged that Red Steel is likely to be the most expensive Wii launch game by a country mile, with the development budget for the well-received FPS running to an impressive 10 million Euros, about $12.7M or GBP £6.8 million. Which is quite a lot given most publishers are estimating overall dev costs for turning out a Wii game at less than half that amount.

The news comes via a French radio interview conducted with Ubisoft's Montreal development studio, which yielded little more than the rather impressive pricetag a major Wii game can command and that we can expect about 13 hours of end-to-end play in Red Steel's main single-player mode.

This will however come as very welcome news to Nintendo fans and everyone else eagerly awaiting the arrival of the low-priced and innovative machine later this year. There was a very real risk that the Wii would see a lot of cheaply-made (if very playable) gimmick software somewhat cynically churned out by publishers hoping to cash in on early adopters. ...

Add Gearbox (Brothers in Arms series) to the growing list of third party Wii developers. Speaking with IGN, company president Randy Pitchford confirmed, "Gearbox Software is enthusiastically supporting the Wii."

Currently, Gearbox is developing Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway for PS3 and Xbox 360. It's unclear if a version of this same title will be released for Wii -- similar to what's being done with Call of Duty 3 -- or if Gearbox will design an entirely new game for Nintendo's console, which, if this is the case, will still likely be a Brothers in Arms installment. Several months ago, an alleged Ubisoft (publisher of Brothers in Arms) release list was leaked onto the internet and featured an unnamed Brothers in Arms title for Wii. ...

I meant to do this a while ago but like always i either forget or do something different, but now the Saturn News will also show on the Dreamcast News Site although if you are after exclusive Saturn News then head on over to the Saturn Site. ...

Heres an excerpt:


Check out the Site HERE and Give us your Comments on the points raised ...

Nintendo is considering the option of making Wii region-free and therefore allowing Japanese and US versions of Wii games to play on UK consoles.

Nintendo will "share a lot of ways people can play globally, regionally, without boundaries," Perrin Kaplan, vice president of marketing and corporate communications at Nintendo of America, revealed in an online interview, when quizzed about the possibility of a region-free console.

She also admitted that Nintendo could learn a lot from the success of the region-free DS, saying that it showed them what works in the marketplace and then said that Nintendo "intends to keep [its] fans satisfied".

While the answers were intentionally vague, it's interesting that the notion was not dismissed out of hand.

It must be noted that Nintendo handhelds Game Boy and Game Boy Advance were both region-free, while the Nintendo consoles that were out at the same time were not; so the fact that DS is region-free isn't the sign of a new trend. But it does seem that Nintendo is registering that a region-free format can make for a more successful format. ...

We've uncovered a trailer for Gangs of London, Sony's brutal Getaway-esque action game due for PSP release in September. And boy is it violent.

The game allows you to take control of one of five different gangs vying for control of the UK capital. The action takes you through 60 missions of driving and bloody combat, with a tactical element to it where you can swap between gang members on the fly.

There are five game modes - Gang Battle, Free Roaming, London Pub Games, Game Sharing and story mode, which is presented with stylish graphic novel-style cutscenes that are reminiscent of Max Payne.

Multiplayer allows up to five gamers to get involved in the mayhem that might be a bit too violent for anyone of a sensitive disposition.

Movie and News at Gamesradar ...