Muff recently launched the first three styles in their new Designer Muffs series, limited edition iPod covers created by up-and-coming Australian designers. Each one is handmade in Australia from printed polyester canvas outside with polar fleece and foam inside to keep your 5G iPod or Nano safe and sound. $17 + $6.50 shipping from Down Under. We think the Ghosties design by Seb Godfrey of Drunk Park is the smartest of the three currently available, but your mileage may vary.

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/porta...ers-168236.php ...

Omnipresent heiress is teaming up with French publisher for her own line of cell phone games.

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Screenshot Index » Love her or hate her, there's no denying that Paris Hilton just won't leave the public eye. Besides her omnipresence in supermarket tabloids, the heiress to the Hilton hotel fortune has also appeared in films, co-written two books, and is currently putting the final touches on her debut CD. On a more prurient note, she was also the star of a widely circulated XXX-rated video, One Night in Paris.

Hilton has also made her presence felt in games, albeit tangentially. She was among the celebrities invited to help shill the Nintendo DS at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, and was also on-hand at the Xbox 360 launch party last May.

Now, it appears Hilton is getting her own game. Today, Paris-headquartered mobile publisher Gameloft announced has a deal with the 25-year-old starlet/spokesmodel/amateur adult actress to "develop and produce a series of mobile games featuring Paris Hilton and her likeness." According to a statement issued by the publisher, the first game to feature the Simple Life star "will be geared to tweens/teens." Later games will be aimed at gamers of other ages and sexes.

"I'm excited to collaborate with Gameloft to bring the Paris Hilton brand and the glamour of young Hollywood to the cell phones of all my fans around the world," said Hilton in a statement. "My phone has become an all in one entertainment device and mobile games are an integral part of that. Mobile gaming is really hot right now and I'm excited to be part of this project."

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6147878.html ...

Console version of Tony Cipriani's mafia mix-ups heads to North American PlayStation 2s June 6 for $19.99, Europe June 9.
The day of release for a new installment of Grand Theft Auto for the PlayStation 2 has become synonymous with "sick" days, $50 out of the wallet, and late October. Taking advantage of its popularity and the holiday season, Rockstar Games has always sent each edition of its flagship franchise to stores just before November and has never found a reason to debut the games for less than half a Benjamin.

That's all about to change for the controversial game, as Rockstar today announced that Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories will be available for the PlayStation 2 on June 6 for an MSRP of $19.99. The game will come to Europe on June 9 for 29.99 euros ($37) or 19.99 GBP ($35).

Though this isn't the debut of this particular chapter of GTA (it was released late last October on the PSP), it is the debut of the game on a console--a very widespread one, at that.

Gamers anxious to return to Liberty City, the setting of Grand Theft Auto III, have long been wondering exactly when the game would come out (it was originally due in April but was then delayed) and how much it would be released for. The PS2 version was revealed in January and originally expected to hit stores in April, and Take-Two Interactive's CEO, Paul Eibeler, announced in March that the game would be cheaper than the $50 PSP version.

Though the game was already released for the PSP, it doesn't mean that this latest version doesn't have a chance to follow in its PS2 GTA predecessor's footsteps as a retail success. Though the PSP has shipped nearly 20 million units (as of the end of 2005, just over 15 million units shipped), the PS2 has sold more than 100 million units.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for the PlayStation 2 has not yet been rated, however, it's likely to receive the same M-for-Mature rating that its PSP counterpart had. As of press time, online retailers still listed the game at $29.99.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6147858.html ...

Contract electronics manufacturing firm Winstron Corp has announced that it aims to boost its production of Xbox 360 consoles to 1 million units a month by the end of the year in order to meet Microsoft's requirements.

The Taiwanese firm, which also produces a variety of other computer products such as laptops and servers, is planning to expand its manufacturing facility for the Xbox 360 in the Chinese city of Zhongshan.

The Wall Street Journal reported the boosted output plans this week, citing Winstron chairman Simon Lining as stating that the increase to a million units per month was being undertaken "to fully support our customer" - namely Microsoft.

Winstron's boosted capacity is another indication that Microsoft is continuing to ramp up production of the Xbox 360, presumably in an attempt to capitalise on its one-year head start on Sony in the next generation console marketplace.

The greatly increased manufacturing capacity for the console will undoubtedly help to ensure that retail channels remain well-stocked over the coming months, but more importantly, may allow Microsoft to stockpile inventory for the holiday season.

That would mean that while the PlayStation 3 is likely to be in short demand around the world in November and December, there would be a plentiful supply of Xbox 360 hardware - giving Microsoft the chance to capitalise on the many consumers who will undoubtedly be disappointed in their efforts to buy one of Sony's new consoles.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=16197 ...

Despite ending over sixty years ago, World War II continues to rage in the games industry, the latest assault coming from French publisher Ubisoft, who have snubbed the Xbox 360 for their latest combat game in favour of Sony's PlayStation 3.

Announced today for PC and PS3 - although the official announcement does not explicitly rule out a launch on other platforms - Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is the third title in Ubisoft's multi-million selling, critically acclaimed WWII series from independent developers Gearbox Software.

Offering the same level of authenticity and historical accuracy that enabled the first two games to stand out from the crowd, the latest game will focus on Operation Market Garden - the largest airborne assault of the war.

Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software, commented: "With Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway, Gearbox is investing everything to take next-generation gaming to an entirely new level. The Unreal Engine 3 powers real next-generation graphics and the most intense, action-oriented recreation of true history ever offered as interactive entertainment."

Whilst the promise of "amazing graphics and sound, new cutting-edge gameplay features, and a completely redesigned online component" is certain to please fans of the series, the announcement is arguable more interesting for what it doesn't say - namely that the title will be appearing on Microsoft's Xbox 360.

While Microsoft continues to enjoy an unrivalled market lead in next generation hardware, it's the software that ultimately defines success or failure. Although there's nothing in the announcement to say that the new game won't be appearing on the Xbox 360 at a later date, the fact that the title will debut this holiday season as one of the early launch titles for Sony's new machine may come as a bit of a blow to the Redmond-based giant.

It could be argued that Ubisoft is attempting to mirror the success of Activision's Call of Duty 2, which quickly became the best selling Xbox 360 launch title around the same time last year, but placing platform loyalty for such a high profile title at this stage will surely not go unnoticed.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=16195 ...

New Asian Commercial Release for PSP:





More info --> http://www.yesasia.com/?/info.php?pro...0&lsaid=219793 ...

If we had one pee for every Revolution rumour that swung our way, we'd be probably have broken the handle on the office urinal by now. Anyway, here's another one: Sega's classic side-scrolling platform fly-'em-up NiGHTS could well be making its long-awaited return on Nintendo's next-gen marvel.
It's a drool-worthy nugget of potential splendour, courtesy of that pulsating news monster, otherwise known as Famitsu magazine. However, don't get your hopes up just yet - the news comes from the mag's rumour section, which apparently claims (according to a translation on the Gaming-Age forums) that there's a Revolution action game in the works by a "game creator who recently went solo" which features "an evil spirit that looks like a parrot flying".
It's a case of putting two and two together and getting a thousand sparkling shards of unblinkered optimism. The first part of the equation comes from recent reports that NiGHTS creator Yuji Naka (who was rumoured to be working on a Rev-style, tilt-sensor-enabled sequel for the Dreamcast) was set to leave Sega, while the fact that NiGHTS did indeed feature an evil spirit that looked like a parrot - if you squinted a bit - tops the whole speculation sundae off with an enormously dubious cherry.
Whatever the outcome, you'll potentially be seeing an evil spirit dressed as parrot doing something interesting on the Revolution soon - and if it turns out to be a NiGHTS sequel, expect to see our faces fly clean off in a mixture of astonishment and glee.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=137815 ...

Must...resist...the...urge to make facile boob jokes. Oh, actually, too late - there's already one in the headline. Anyway, it's been a long, long time since we've had the pleasure of sizing up Lara's impressive gaming assets (damn, there's another one), so we're celebrating Miss Croft's second week at number one in the UK Chart Track All-format Top 40 by keeping firmly abreast of the situation.
Skidding up from four to two, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown gives new hope to game devs tirelessly beavering away on hackneyed movie tie-ins, while EA's so-hip-it's-got-fifteen-pairs-of-legs FIFA Street 2 clings firmly to number three by its ankles.

Meanwhile, The Godfather straps on its concrete shoes as it prepares to swim with the fishes, sinking down from two to four and Sega's Football Manager 2006 finds itself wedged firmly between the goalposts as a non-mover at five.
Praise the Lord and kiss the heavens though! By some incredible miracle of impeccable taste, Animal Crossing: Wild World - a game we love so much, we finally consumated the relationship this week, leading to a severely messy DS cart slot - is categorically refusing to move from its prized position at number six.

Proving that people like to poke things, BUZZ! The Big Quiz flashes its buttons and quivers its way up one to seven, while King Kong: The Official blah blah blah, clambers back up the charts to eight, in much the same way a giant monkey might scale a skyscraper, or something - presumably thanks to the movie's recent DVD release.

Finally, topping off the bottom of the top ten, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter retreats from five to nine and Battlefield: Modern Combat says tanks a lot and goodnight as it hangs desperately onto the number ten position. Elsewhere, the only point of consequence seems to be that Guitar Hero has hit a bum-note, rocking its way out of the charts down to 35. We flatly refuse to believe this is because no-one's buying one of the most phenomenal games released in years - instead we'll just shut our eyes and pretend none of this ever happened.

1 TOMB RAIDER: LEGEND
2 ICE AGE 2: THE MELTDOWN
3 FIFA STREET 2
4 THE GODFATHER
5 FOOTBALL MANAGER 2006
6 ANIMAL CROSSING: WILD WORLD
7 BUZZ! THE BIG QUIZ
8 KING KONG: OFFICIAL GAME OF THE MOVIE
9 TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON: ADVANCED WARFIGHTER
10 BATTLEFIELD 2: MODERN COMBAT
11 THE ELDER SCROLLS IV: OBLIVION
12 BATMAN BEGINS
13 THE SIMS 2: FAMILY FUN STUFF
14 CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER 2006
15 THE SIMS 2
16 NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH & WARDROBE
17 FIFA 06
18 SINGSTAR ROCKS!
19 DRAGON QUEST: JOURNEY OF THE CURSED KING
20 FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 3

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=137791 ...

Namco is working on a new version of long-standing power-sliding favourite Ridge Racer 7 for the PS3, according to the latest word from out East.
According to our old friends at respected Japanese publication Famitsu, work on Ridge Racer 7 is already well underway and, surprisingly, it's set to make its playable debut at this year's E3.

The latest word is that Ridge Racer 7 is being developed by series producer and PSP vet, Hideo Teramoto, and it's being directed by Masaya Kobayashi with sound duties being performed by Hiroshi Okubuo.

Not too many further details to report, other than the intriguing news that Ridge Racer 7 will roar online with up to fourteen players on the PS3, so severe multiplayer action is certainly in prospect. Once again, trademark Ridge Racer virtual icon and racing queen Reiko Nagase (pictured) will be fronting the racing franchise, which can be no bad thing.

With E3 roaring ever closer, like an Artic bearing down on an unsuspecting hedgehog, we'll be hoping to bring you first impressions of Ridge Racer 7 in action, live and direct from the E3 show floor.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=137776 ...