Divineo China have posted news that they have all 3 colours of the DS Lite in stock at their online store. ...

Divineo USA posted this news:

We will receive our new batch of Xecuter 3 and Xecuter 2.6 early next week. So we'll be able to ship all backorders between monday and wednesday. ...

'Halo 3 at E3' rumours have been bouncing around the 'net faster than shards from Master Chief's needler gun in the run-up to the event, but IGN has gone one step further than everyone else, insisting that Microsoft will be showing the hotly anticipated sequel in video form at the show next month.

The site is reporting that it's received confirmation that Halo 3 will be shown at Microsoft's E3 conference on May 9 from "independent sources who recently spoke with Microsoft executives." While these sources didn't divulge details on what exactly would be in the video, they apparently said that it would be two minutes in length.

Microsoft was unavailable for comment on the report at the time of writing, but if it said anything other than the usual "We do not comment on internet rumour and speculation", we'd almost feel the need to run around in large party hats blowing tooters.

We can only wait for May 9 to discover if it is indeed all true.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=138727 ...

Legendary developer and llama farmer Jeff Minter is working on a new game, which is believed to be for the Xbox Live Arcade. Following the canning of Unity, his joint project with Peter Molyneux, Minter has discussed his rediscovery of the development muse on his blog.

"Finally starting to get a grip on this new game. Always takes a while at first and there are times of floating around with that feeling of 'I promised I would make an excellent game but I'm not feeling it yet', but it has ever been thus. In truth it's always been that way. It was exactly that way when I said I'd do Tempest 2000. I was certain the entire Jaguar community would laugh and point at me because of the crapness of what I'd made."

The last couple of weeks I've had a couple of good points of traction. One being feeling something of how I want the control and firing to be, and the other being today, building in a nice p-system generator to use for the explosions and stuff... At the moment it feels like it's starting to shake down well, the initial ideas resolving into things you can actually bolt game mechanic on."

As that blog extract cryptically suggests, Minter's new game will be a shoot-em-up. And as early visuals he posted on his blog confirm, it will look not unlike his psychedelic light synths, the most recent being Neon, which is built into the Xbox 360.

No such thing as a release date for Minter's latest project yet, but you can keep up to speed by keeping your eyes on his blog.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=138730 ...

The universal derision surrounding Nintendo's announcement that the next-gen console formerly known as Revolution will, in fact, be known as Wii, has provoked spirited but not particularly credible justification from Nintendo of America PR Manager Matt Atwood, in response to a grilling by Game Informer.

In America, as well as the UK, the name's connotations of passing urine have provoked a mass outbreak of schoolboy s******ing, allied to rueful head-shaking and cringing. When asked whether it worries him that Nintendo's great white hope is now named after kids' slang for going to the bathroom, Atwood answered: "No. Any time you announce a new name you're going to get a lot of questions. If you look at what TiVo did or Virgin Airline for instance, those names have become household names and it had nothing to do with that at all. We wanted a name that represented the fact that this system was really for everyone to play. And Wii, the word, is W-i-i, and the two Is represent both people and the controllers."

That specious argument - along with the huge list of even more specious justifications for the name that Nintendo came up with when it made the announcement -- smacks of desperation. Neither TiVo nor Virgin - nor indeed the other examples of dodgy names Atwood came up with, such as Prius, Caterpillar, Naked Juice (which is never likely to reach the UK) and Napster - possess the same bodily function overtones as Wii, nor invite the same questioning about whether Nintendo is taking the piss (even though April 1 has long since passed).

When asked whether he liked the name Wii, Atwood flannelled manfully: "First time I heard it, I sat down and thought about it for a bit, and "Do I like it, Do I not?" and I thought, 'Hmm, it seems a little bit different. I don't understand it'.

"And then I did the same thing you guys did and watched the video, and the more I understood about the system, the more it's made a lot of sense to me. Yeah, initially I went, "Wow, this is different." And then once I started getting more hands-on with the system, and once I started to understand the concept behind the system and how the name ties in, I actually really like it. I think people will talk about it. You're definitely seeing it on the net, and people will continue to talk about it." Which roughly translates as: All publicity is good publicity, but surely Nintendo can't be that desperate to have everyone talking about it?

According to Atwood, the cure for our misgivings about this most unfortunate of handles will be hands-on experience of the console: "Once you touch the Revolution, this will make more sense. Once you play more games, and once the system is out, and more and more people play it, and you're realizing these different experiences, it'll make more sense. Again, it may sound a little bit of a line, but I think it fits well. This is not about you or me, it's about Wii." Pur-lease.

One can imagine the horror that would have gripped Nintendo of Europe when the name was announced, and Atwood inadvertently suggests, as one would have imagined, that Nintendo's European wing - always seen in the past as a second-class outpost of the company - had no hand in the naming which, unsurprisingly, was hashed up by a committee: "It was actually several people internally. But beyond that, we aren't disclosing specifics on how the name came about.n But it was several people at NOA and NCL."

The saddest aspect of Atwood's interview is that Nintendo did discuss sticking with the console's perfectly excellent code-name: "There were thoughts of sticking with Revolution, then there were thoughts of a completely different name, but once everything came together this was the name decided. I think they wanted a name that was very unique. Because this system is not about an upgrade of an old system."

Fair enough, but Nintendo really needn't have opted for a name that will forever associate what it believes will be its most ground-breaking piece of hardware ever with children visiting the toilet.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=138708 ...

News from CVG

If you like the idea of seeing famous rap stars knocking the stuffing out of each other, feast your raw peepers on these blood-spattered screenshots from the PSP version of Def Jam Fight For NY (subtitled 'The Takeover'), which show the likes of Ludacris, Redman, Sean Paul and Xzibit grappling and pounding a host of hapless opponents.

Rhymin' fight fans will already be familiar with the GameCube, Xbox and PS2 incarnations of the prequel to Def Jam Vendetta, but according to Craig Rechenmacher, senior director of marketing at EA, the PSP version will feature "exclusive new fighting moves, new gameplay content and original story mode". Now if only someone would invent a game where Daniel Powter wrestles James Blunt...

Def Jam Fight For NY: The Takeover should be out on PSP in July.

Screens here --> http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=138704 ...

Microsoft revealed a Q3 loss of USD 388 million in its Home and Entertainment division, which houses the Xbox 360 console, despite a gain in revenue and an overall profit for the company.

Revenue for the division, which also incorporates PC games, the Home Products Division, and TV platform products for the interactive television industry, was posted at USD 1.06 billion, but the loss was a significant increase on the USD 175 million lost in the same quarter a year prior.

A significant percentage of the loss was clearly related to the Xbox 360 console, which has suffered from continued supply shortages since its launch last November, although Microsoft VP Peter Moore stated in a conference call following the results that "Our supply challenges are behind us operationally," declaring that the company has shipped 3.2 million consoles to date and expects to shift five to five and a half units by June - a marginal increase on previous targets of 4.5-5 million.

The company has admitted that first generation consoles are sold at a loss, stating: "Our business model anticipates that while we currently sell Xbox 360 consoles at a negative margin, product cost reductions and the future margins on sales of games and other products will enable us to achieve a positive margin over the Xbox 360 console lifecycle." However, the supply shortages and the resultant increase in expenditure as Microsoft made efforts to push units into retails stores worldwide has obviously had a negative impact on the results.

And the problems are not over yet, as the company states "We expect operating expenses and operating loss to increase as a result of Xbox 360 launch-related activities and Xbox 360 console costs."

Overall revenue for the company was noticeably more positive, with revenues up 13 per cent on the same quarter in 2005, at USD 10.9 billion, and overall profit showing an increase of 17 per cent at USD 3.89 billion for the quarter. The continued Home and Entertainment division expenditure has prompted the company to lower offer a reserved fourth quarter guidance of USD 11.5-11.7 billion, dipping below analysts projections and resulting in a slight drop in share price following the announcement.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=16432 ...

SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced SEGA RALLY™ REVO. This genre-defining competitive racing game will be the first title developed by the newly-formed SEGA Driving Studio, and will be racing onto the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360™, and PC in 2007.

With revolutionary dynamically deformable terrain, proprietary next-generation graphics, bone-jarringly realistic physics, and competitive bumper-to-bumper racing, SEGA RALLY REVO will set a new benchmark in its genre with a high-tempo driving experience that is every racing fan's driving fantasy.

"SEGA RALLY REVO shifts into high gear with revolutionary track deformation technology, skill-demanding gameplay and dazzling graphics on the next-gen systems," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America, Inc. "We're redefining the genre with SEGA RALLY REVO, using next-gen power to guarantee our place in the winner's circle."

Vehicle selection affects driving strategy in SEGA RALLY REVO, as race course surfaces dynamically deform upon repeated contact with vehicle tires and changing weather effects. SEGA RALLY REVO features a variety of fully deformable surfaces, from gravel-littered tracks and smooth tarmac roads, to snow-covered mountain passes. This means no two laps will ever be the same, and drivers can skillfully lower their lap times as they hurtle their chosen world-renowned rally vehicles down photo-realistic courses only made possible on next-generation hardware.

Driving skills will also be tested by SEGA RALLY REVO's advanced AI which allows NPC drivers to dynamically adapt their driving style to the varied racing surfaces. Players can enjoy a comprehensive single-player campaign as they travel the globe racing the best drivers in the world. SEGA RALLY REVO also features online capabilities, with multiplayer splitscreen modes offering an extremely competitive rally experience against drivers around the world.

For more information on SEGA's Road to E3 2006, please visit the official E3 page at www.sega.com/e3. For screenshots and artwork, please visit the SEGA FTP site at: http://segapr.segaamerica.com. ...

zshadow posted these libs he found in the new 2.70 firmware:

some new modules I noticed in 2.7:

amctrl.prx
avcodec.prx
game_install_plugin.prx
iofilemgr_dnas.prx
irda.prx
mm_flash.prx
psheet.prx
usbacc.prx
usbcam.prx
usbgps.prx
usbgps_serial.prx
usbmic.prx
usbpspcm.prx
video_main_plugin.prx

seems camera support is there now (although I don't think the actual camera device has been released yet).

Notice all the USB references, does this mean that the addon for both the GPS and the Camera are coming very soon, it certainly looks that way. Are Sony going to feature Voice recognition in future games too with the usbmic.prx Lib, all very interesting. ...