Following Nintendo's initial Revolution controller unveiling at TGS last year, company execs have variously admitted that not all the next-gen console's secrets have been revealed. However, it seems that the cat's now been let out the bag regarding a second unique controller feature in the form of an accelerometer/motion sensor inside the machine's nunchaku attachment.

Reports first surfaced on the web last week and the rumours were given further credence after website AMN claimed to have spoken to a source close to Nintendo who confirmed the news. Now though, CVG has been informed by another well-placed development source, understandably speaking under strict conditions of anonymity, that the reports are indeed true.

Advertisement:Initially, the notion of a sensor in the nunchaku attachment might seem a little strange, what with the wand-style controller already being fully spacially aware. However, factoring in the nunchaku's ability to sense movement in various direction, all manner of new possibilities arise. Most obviously, in FPS games for example, the secondary controller could be used to look around your environment, alongside controlling movement, meaning the wand would remain free to aim and fire your weapon at all times - imperative for those frantic gun-fights.

As always though, without official confirmation from Nintendo itself, it's impossible to entirely validate the reports. Still, for now we're happy to file this one under "almost a certainty" if not actually "definite", until the company steps forward and reveals all at E3 next month.

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Q Entertainment's music puzzler Lumines is still getting heavy rotation in our smudge-ridden PSPs, so much so that block-related hallucinations are not uncommon after we've busted out an afternoon session.

We're delighted then to hear that a sequel to Tetsuya Mizuguchi's music puzzler is almost certainly in the works, and apparently ripe for an E3 unveiling. The news comes from an pre-E3 promo video on Sony's PSUnderground site, where the plucky American presenter (who is not in the least bit irritating) lists the puzzle sequel as a game set to debut at this year's E3 show.

After getting word of the game we immediately manned the CVG bat-phone, although Sony was unavailable for comment. However, with this being an official video, it's looking almost certain we'll see the Lumines sequel crop up in Sony's sprawling E3 booth, and we'll likely have to be dragged away kicking and screaming by the end.

Look out for our E3 coverage kicking off in just 2 weeks time where, if all goes well, we'll avoid a 72-hour Lumines 2 marathon.

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Although no official specs have been forthcoming from Nintendo regarding its Revolution console, reports from various developers seem to suggest that, performance-wise, it's got about two-to-three times the oomph of the GameCube. In fact, the company's gone on record many a time to state that it has no intention of playing with the big boys in terms of processing power, shunning HD support and relying on its own controller innovations to interest the public.

Although Nintendo's keen to point out the number of third-party developers excited to be working on its next-gen console, it seems others aren't quite so thrilled by the company's low-tech future. Speaking to Gamasutra, EA LA's vice president and general manager Neil Young had a few nuggets of wisdom to share.

Advertisement:First up, "One of the challenges for the Revolution is that it's not HD. If you think about RTS games, one element is the control scheme, but the other is the distance from the TV screen when you're playing a console game versus a PC game." Referencing EA's forthcoming Battle for Middle Earth II RTS, Young elaborated, "One of the reasons [it] works so well on the 360 is the controller, but the other reason is the HD - you can see everything, frankly, as well or better as you can when you're [as close as you would be to a PC]."

It's an interesting perspective certainly, but curious given the fact that developers have been successfully creating games for non-HD console for ages now. Equally, playing devil's advocate for a moment, it would be easy to point to Nintendo's own Pikmin franchise as an example of an extremely successful RTS which didn't require HD support to be eminently playable.

Young offered his personal impressions of the console too, explaining that "the other issue is performance. The hardware performance is sort of current gen plus, versus the 10x or 20x multiple that you get on next-gen. I mean, EA is building stuff for it, but I kind of prefer the DS. It makes the most sense to me."

So, add another developer not going tits-over-hat about the Revolution to the list then. Of course, as always, let us know what you think about Young's views - and, indeed, the necessity of processing mega-oomph as the next generation of home consoles gets properly underway - in the comments below.
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We've got good news for those missing out on the queues and over-priced burgers of this year's E3; for Microsoft's goodies at least, you won't have to leave your armchair.

In an interview on Xbox.com, Microsoft boss Peter Moore reveals the company's plans to cover E3 on Xbox Live. "It is our goal to bring E3 home to Xbox Live members as best we can," he said, "we will give you the flavour of what's going on, on the show floor and some of the stuff that we are showing and debuting here." Moore then vowed that Microsoft would supply videos and news from the show "as quickly as possible."

Exciting stuff for those staying at home next month, but the Xbox.com article then goes on to suggest that Live coverage could go beyond just screenshots and trailers: "Xbox Live members should be able to play many of the demos that even the celebrities will be testing out at E3," reads the article. Could you be trying out Too Human and Viva Piñata from you couch come May 10? The prospect is certainly enticing.

We're already contemplating hooking up our Xbox and staying at home, but alas there are plenty more game companies to see. Look out for our full E3 coverage next month.

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Gamespot shows the release dates of tekken and gran turismo and also killzone to be 5ft of may in europe. here is the ss i took: ...

1: TOMB RAIDER: LEGEND EIDOS
2: ICE AGE 2: THE MELTDOWN VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES
3: ANIMAL CROSSING: WILD WORLD NINTENDO
4: FIFA STREET 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
5: THE GODFATHER ELECTRONIC ARTS
6: THE SIMS 2: FAMILY FUN STUFF ELECTRONIC ARTS
7: FOOTBALL MANAGER 2006 SEGA
8: TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON: ADV WARFIGHTER UBISOFT
9: BUZZ! THE BIG QUIZ SONY COMPUTER ENT.
10: THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION TAKE 2
11: KING KONG: OFFICIAL GAME OF THE MOVIE UBISOFT
12: THE SIMS 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
13: SINGSTAR ROCKS! SONY COMPUTER ENT.
14: BATMAN BEGINS ELECTRONIC ARTS
15: BATTLEFIELD 2: MODERN COMBAT ELECTRONIC ARTS
16: FIFA 06 ELECTRONIC ARTS
17: CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 2006 EIDOS
18: PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 5 KONAMI
19: DRAGON QUEST: JOURNEY OF THE CURSED KING SQUARE ENIX EUROPE
20: NEED FOR SPEED: MOST WANTED ELECTRONIC ARTS
21: THE SIMS 2: OPEN FOR BUSINESS ELECTRONIC ARTS
22: SOCOM 3: US NAVY SEALS SONY COMPUTER ENT.
23: NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH & WARDROBE BUENA VISTA GAMES
24: FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 3 ELECTRONIC ARTS
25: BLACK ELECTRONIC ARTS
26: WORMS: OPEN WARFARE THQ
27: HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE ELECTRONIC ARTS
28: WWE SMACKDOWN! VS RAW 2006 THQ
29: CRAZY FROG RACER UBISOFT
30: DRIVER: PARALLEL LINES ATARI
31: SONIC RIDERS SEGA
32: LEGO STAR WARS TT GAMES
33: TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL: ESSENTIALS UBISOFT
34: CHICKEN LITTLE BUENA VISTA GAMES
35: GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS TAKE 2
36: GUITAR HERO REDOCTANE
37: OUTRUN 2006: COAST 2 COAST SEGA
38: SOCOM: US NAVY SEALS FIRETEAM BRAVO SONY COMPUTER ENT.
39: GRAND THEFT AUTO: LIBERTY CITY STORIES TAKE 2
40: FINAL FANTASY XI ONLINE UBISOFT


Well its a hat trick for Tomb Raider, 3 weeks at the top. Animal Crossing: Wild World is also doing well for the DS up 3 places from 6th to 3rd.

The highest new entry of the week was Sony's PlayStation 2 Socom 3: US Navy Seals in at number 22.

The first ever MMORPG for Xbox 360 ‘Final Fantasy XI Online’ enables Square/Ubisoft’s newly updated game (originally released on PC in 2004) to squeeze in to the Top 40 at No40.


UK Charts courtesy of ELSPA. Chart information gathered by Chart-Track. ...

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (April 26, 2006) - SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced Super Monkey Ball™: Banana Blitz developed by SEGA Studios for the Nintendo Revolution system. AiAi and all his friends have rolled their way onto Nintendo's new console with new mind-blowing puzzle levels and a wealth of new and exciting Party Games specifically designed to fully exploit the innovative Nintendo Revolution controller. Other titles will have a difficult time matching the multitude of possible variations in game control as presented in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz.

The single-player puzzle levels in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz have been innovatively designed to challenge gamers' skills like never before. For the first time in the Super Monkey Ball franchise, AiAi and his friends will have the ability to jump when players flick the Nintendo Revolution controller in an upward motion. The ability to jump has given game designers another dimension in which to expand the Super Monkey Ball gameplay experience and allows gamers a whole new way to interact with the franchise; this time in true three-dimensional fashion.

Source: Press Release ...

First MAME4ALL alpha binaries is out for testing purposes.
At the moment, MAME4ALL is split 3 binaries:

- MAME4ALL/Aged: PACMAN, GALAXIAN, SCRAMBLE, CCLIMBER, PHOENIX, NAMCO, UNIVERS, NINTENDO, MIDW8080, MIDWZ80, MEADOWS, ASTROCDE, IREM, OLDTAITO, QIXTAITO, TAITO, WILLIAMS, CAPBOWL, GREMLIN, VICDUAL, SEGAV, SEGAR, ZAXXON, SYSTEM8, BTIME, DATAEAST, DEC8, KONAMI, EXIDY, KANGAROO, MISSILE, ATARIBW, ATARSY2, ROCKOLA, BERZERK, GAMEPLAN, STRATVOX, ZCCARIA, UPL, CINEMAR, THEPIT, GOTTLIEB and VALADON.

- MAME4ALL/Classic: TAITO2, CENTIPED, ATARIVG, NEMESIS, MCR, TEHKAN, DEC0, ATARI, TECHNOS, CAPCOM, ATARISY1, SEIBU, NICHIBUTSU and OTHERS.

- MAME4ALL/Gold: CPS1, SYSTEM16 and TMNT.


MAME4ALL romset is a MAME 0.34/0.35 romset based.
Others romset, like newest MAMEs, is not valid. See MAME GP2X website.
The best method is copy to /roms all MAME GP2X zipped roms except NeoGeo roms.
Also it is good idea to use Windows version available for testing romset.

Download and more info at MAME4ALL site. ...

Fluff has released a new version of the OS Shell for the PSP, heres whats new:

- Icon support refined.
- Audio no longer crackles on tabchange.
- Audio vizualisation completed and added.
- File manager working.
- New OSK implimented (Psikey) - buggy at the moment with long filenames.
- Image viewer improved and less prone to crashing, set as wallpaper and remove wallpaper fully functional.
- Refined GUI engine, for faster, smoother animations and transitions (public build specific).
- Filesize limitation of music changed to 7MB, unlimited size is still being worked on and is only available on BETA builds.
- OSK not functional until we work out the little bug, but you can still play with it.

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...