New edition of the World famous DVD Mag from Famitsu:



Famitsu Wave DVD is Famitsu’s monthly magazine coming as a printed high gloss magazine and a fully featured DVD. Famitsu Wave DVD Includes the latest trailers, exclusive videos, reviews, how-to’s and fun stuff. Covers all videogame systems.

More info at Lik Sang ...

Divineo USA have posted this new accessory:



More than a useful low price docking station (with charging socket), the Essential pack by VGA brings you additional must have accessories for your PSP: USB data cable, game cases, screen buffer, screen protector and cleaning wipes! All in one.

More info at Divineo USA ...

News via Gamesindustry:

US politicians have gained a new champion in their battle against the sale of violent videogames to minors, as New York Attorney General and Governor hopeful Eliot Spitzer voices his support of governmental regulations.

Spitzer asserts that political intervention, in addition to educational reform, is a necessary measure to protect children from negative or harmful media influences, stating: "Parents and schools need the government's help in curbing irresponsible behaviour by corporations that market harmful products to our kids."

Advocating a "uniform ratings system" that would be maintained and controlled by the government, Spitzer also supported recent legislative efforts introduced by California, Michigan, Illinois and, most recently, Oklahoma, although he admits the failure of almost all of those efforts on constitutional grounds and hopes to change that for his state.

He went on to largely dismiss the current ESRB self regulatory system, labelling it as ineffective and largely ignored, despite evidence to the contrary submitted by several industry trade bodies.

"The Entertainment Software Rating Board does have a rating system that warns consumers of content unsuitable for children, but it's often ignored," Spitzer stated. "Laws protecting underage kids from harmful products are nothing new - laws preventing kids from buying cigarettes serve as just one example. But currently, nothing under New York State law prohibits a fourteen-year old from walking into a video store and buying a game labelled Adult Only."

The industry was quick to return fire on the comments, Video Software Dealers Association president Bo Anderson issuing a statement which maintains that Spitzer's comments are based on a misunderstanding of the effectiveness of current ESRB ratings, commenting: "the latest findings of the Federal Trade Commission on the ability of minors to purchase Mature-rated video games shows a substantial increase in self-regulation, particularly by major retailers."

The VSDA provided figures showing a 362 per cent increase in the enforcement of store policies restricting the sale of M-rated games since the original FTC shopping survey in 2000, almost doubling between 2003 and the most recent study. The turn-down rate in national retail chains where the vast majority of games are purchased is currently 65 per cent, and much effort is going into improving that figure on a daily basis.

"The best outcome for parents and their kids would be for Attorney General Spitzer to add his name to the effort to remind parents about the game ratings system and assist and empower them in making informed choices for their children," Anderson concluded.

Adding comment to the debate, ESA president Doug Lowenstein, who remains actively involved in supporting industry self-regulation and opposes the various stringent legislative proposals introduced in recent months, stated: "A uniform rating system is a good idea in principle. But there are practical problems involved with applying the same standards to fundamentally different media that make realization of this ideal immensely challenging. By imposing a 'one size fits all' formula on these widely divergent entertainment mediums, a universal ratings system could actually create confusion, not simplicity." ...

Via Gamesindustry

Whether or not Microsoft can mount a serious challenge to Sony's market share in the console market may be almost entirely down to the outcome of the battle between the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD next-generation DVD formats.

That's according to leading industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities, who has pinpointed the struggle between Toshiba and Sony in the high definition movie space as crucial to how the games market will move in the coming years.

"Notwithstanding the efforts of all three console manufacturers to deliver compelling exclusive content, we believe that the ultimate outcome of the console wars will be decided by the motion picture studios," Pachter commented in a note issued this week.

"Should the studios embrace Sony's Blu-ray standard for high definition DVDs, we think Sony will gain an insurmountable advantage over Microsoft; should the studios embrace Sony rival Toshiba's HD-DVD format, we think that Microsoft can maintain its first mover advantage and will dominate software sales for years to come."

Pachter believes that Sony has allowed Microsoft to gain that first year advantage because of its desire to hold off on releasing the PS3 until such time as the Blu-Ray technology was ready - a risky strategy, but one which could yet pay off for the firm.

"Should Sony win the high definition DVD format war, we expect a more rapid adoption rate for the PS3; should Sony lose the DVD war, we expect sales of the PS3 to approximate annual sales of the Xbox 360, and believe that Microsoft can retain its first mover advantage," Pachter explained.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 utilises a standard definition DVD drive, but the firm has announced its intention to launch an add-on unit which can play HD-DVD content and is expected to announce further details at E3 next week.

However, uptake of such devices for consoles has traditionally been slow, and while the peripheral will answer critics of the Xbox 360 who point out that the device for which Microsoft coined the phrase "HD Era" doesn't actually play back any HD physical media, it is unlikely to make a major impact on the fortunes of the device - or the HD-DVD format.

Pachter's estimation, which is supported by comments from other analysts covering the movie industry, is that Blu-Ray will win the format battle against HD-DVD, despite its apparent disadvantages - including being later to market, and being more expensive.

"We expect the dominant console at the end of the next cycle to be the Sony PlayStation 3," he explained, "primarily due to our assessment that Sony will win the high definition DVD format war."

It's not all bad news for Microsoft, though, with Pachter anticipating that Xbox 360 will "enjoy a first mover advantage for the next two years, capturing approximately 42% of U.S. and European combined next generation hardware unit sales through 2007."

Looking past 2007, however, the market seems likely to settle down to a more familiar pattern - "with Sony capturing around 45% of the total market, Microsoft capturing 35%, and Nintendo capturing 20%. These estimates do not include market shares in Japan, which we expect to be dominated by Sony (65% through 2010) and Nintendo (25%)." ...

Via GamesIndustry

Glu Mobile has announced the signing of a new partnership with Microsoft, to develop and publish a mobile version of Bizarre Creations' acclaimed Xbox and Xbox 360 franchise, Project Gotham Racing.

The first two games in the series appeared on Xbox to widespread critical acclaim and considerable worldwide retail success. The latest game, Project Gotham Racing 3, was a launch title for the Xbox 360, and remains one of the most popular racing games on the next-gen console, with a range of tournaments and online competitions, together with additional downloadable content content including new cars, tracks and features recently announced.

Greg Ballard, Glu Mobile CEO, commented: "The PGR franchise revolutionized the racing genre by rewarding gamers for driving with speed, style and daring. Glu will create the definitive mobile racing experience by delivering this same exciting challenge optimised for the mobile platform."

"The Project Gotham Racing franchise is loved by millions worldwide, and we're excited to partner with Glu Mobile to give gamers a new platform to enjoy it on in the near future," added Edward Ventura, director of franchise development, Microsoft."

The mobile version of the game, which is set to include the instantly recognisable 'Kudos' points system that rewards precision drifting and controlled high-speed manoeuvres, will be available for a wide range of mobile platforms including Microsoft Windows Mobile, early in 2007. No additional information on the gameplay features have been released to date.

Glu Mobile is a leading wireless games and content developer and global publisher with a substantial portfolio of original and branded content from partners including Cartoon Network, Celador International, FOX Sports Interactive, Hasbro, and PopCap Games. The company recently challenged the dominance of newly expanded EA Mobile with an acquisition of its own, securing iFone - the UK's top-performing mobile publisher for the past two years - and subsequently adding a range of additional licenses such as Lemmings, Monopoly and Sonic the Hedgehog to its portfolio. ...

Blitz Games, one of Europe’s leading independent videogame developers today announced that is developing SpongeBob SquarePants™: Creature from the Krusty Krab video game on PlayStation ®2, Nintendo® Wii and Nintendo® GameCube for 2006 with leading publisher THQ.

Philip Oliver, CEO and Managing Director of Blitz Games commented, “We’re delighted to extend our working relationship with THQ and Nickelodeon on their most important brand. We are looking forward to producing a very high quality, fun game and Christmas 2006 ‘Top 10’ contender. ” Philip went on to say. “This is our first game for the Nintendo Wii which makes it especially exciting for us.”

SpongeBob SquarePants videogames have sold almost 17 million units worldwide and regularly appear in the top 10 around the world. The half-dressed, porous, yellow sponge is one of the top 5 leading cartoon characters in the world. The SpongeBob movie recently netted in excess of $135m at the box office worldwide and the TV series continues to pull in an audience of 57.4 million people each month across the globe.

SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab – SpongeBob explores the peculiar world of Bikini Bottom as it transforms through a series of various unique visual styles. Continuing to reign as a top gaming and TV property, this new game offers fans brand new gameplay mechanics through nine visually bizarre levels. The game will be on show next week in Los Angeles, at E3 – the world’s biggest videogame exhibition. www.e3expo.com

Blitz is well known and respected for taking major kids brands to mainstream console players. The development of SpongeBob SquarePants continues this long tradition and specialisation. Key brands it’s brought to the consoles are, Barbie, Frogger, Disney’s Lilo & Stitch Fairly Odd Parents, Pac-Man and it’s imminent release of Bratz: Rock Angels, also with THQ. ...

Sick of your "Dcemu Newbie" , "Dcemu Rookie"
"Dcemu Regular" title?

Well now you can change it to any of the following user groups:

Dreamcast User
DS User
Gamecube User
Gizmondo User
GP2X User
GP32 User
PS2 User
PSP User
Saturn User
Xbox 360 User
Xbox User

Join user groups (must be loged in) ...

Critical released a new version of his GBA Emulator for the Gizmondo:

Description:
Early release of VisualBoyAdvance port to Gizmondo. This emulates Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance. Scaling implemented.
GizVBA 0.2.5
---------------

WHAT'S NEW: scaling added, swapped L and R around (was wrong), some performance enhancements.

Gizmondo port by critical of PocketVBA, which in turn is based on Snes9x.

It emulates Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance consoles.

PocketVBA is licensed under GNU Generic Public License(GPL), as is GizVBA.
Source is available on request to the contact address below.

The original licence files and documentation may be found in the doc directory of
the zip file that this readme file came in.

Contact: [email protected]

Installation
------------

Put GizVBA.exe in the root of your SD card, along with the included gx.dll
if you don't already have it.

Usage
-----

ROMs must be in a directory called:

GizVBA

in the root of your SD Card.

Buttons
-------

The joypad does what you'd expect. The other buttons are:

<< SELECT
[] START
|> B
>> A
L L
R R

During emulation, the home key toggles main menu on and off, which will also
pause/resume the emulator.

Whilst in the main menu, the [] key exits back to the Gizmondo system.

Up and Down on the joypad in the main menu select the ROM, |> starts

TODO
----

Lots...
GBA sound.
GBA performance isn't wonderful.

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

Everyone has an opinion on Nintendos new name and certainly its very different but if you could choose a name for the console previously named Revolution what would be your choice ?

For me i say something with Wifi in as Nintendos new console with its DS handheld cold easily become the king of Wifi and online gaming,

What do you think ? ...