Nintendo is hoping to bump up Christmas sales by launching a new GameCube and Mario Party 7 bundle in the US and a Pokemon-branded Game Boy Micro in Japan.

From November 7, US shoppers will be able to pick up a GameCube, Mario Party 7 and two controllers for USD 99.99 - the same current price as a standalone console and controller.

The latest instalment in the Mario Party series features 80 mini-games and a multiplayer mode for up to eight opponents. It comes with the GameCube Mic, which allows users to command characters' movements vocally. The game will retail for USD 49.99.

The move follows poor sales for GameCube hardware and software in North America, as recently revealed in Nintendo's half-year financial results. The company's senior marketing director, Yoshihiro Mori, conceded that "The product's life is nearing its end."

So far no GameCube bundles have been announced for Japan, but Nintendo did confirm that a Pokemon edition of its diminutive new Game Boy Micro handheld will be hitting the shops on November 17. Designed in metallic red and black, it features a small white Pikachu silhouette above the A and B buttons.

Nintendo will distribute the product via Pokemon Online and Pokemon Mobile, and through Pokemon Centres across Japan. It will retail for 12,000 yen (USD 105) - the same price as the non-branded Micro.

Nintendo declined to comment on whether any GameCube bundles are planned for Europe, or whether the Pokemon GB Micro will make it over here. However, a representative did confirm that there will be announcements made regarding Christmas promotions over the coming weeks. ...

New DS Commercial release:



Meet Phoenix Wright, the rookie defense lawyer new to the scene with the wildest cross-examination skills in town! Take on five intriguing cases to reveal dramatic, stunning, and even comical court proceedings. Use both the dual and touch screens to investigate crime scenes, question witnesses and present shocking evidence. "Objection!" ...It's outrageous fun! You won't be able to put down this laugh-out-loud, riveting adventure!

http://www.yesasia.com/?/info.php?pro...1&lsaid=219793 ...

its just that every time i start my xbox the error 21 shows up telling me to call customer support, the reason is this, i have a soft modded xbox and i set it up accidentally to do an autoupdate when xbox xtarts but i dont have xbox live or internet connection, so the error always shows up, i dont mind chnging my dashboard or formatting my drive but i just dont know how.

i was also told i could create boot disk, i have a evolutionx pack with bios files and different versions of the dashboard on my pc but i dont know how to use it or to create that boot disk ...

Just checking before I go leech some CF cards off my grandpa, theres no way a CF Type II Microdrive is gonna work with the M3 right? (Its an IBM 1GB Microdrive). Will CF Type II even work? ...

Ooh, doesn’t that look nice! Thanks to our love and understanding of the beautiful game, we lucky Europeans are being blessed with this bundle from Nintendo.

The Japanese giant’s latest Mario sports crossover title, Mario Smash Football, is to come bundled with this special edition GameCube – and doesn’t she look bee-yootiful in white?

Retailing at a piffling €99 throughout Europe (expect to pay around £70 in Britain), you’d be justified in thinking it should sell quite well. At those prices, it’s almost worth it if you already have a GameCube – just for the game and natty white controller. Though why such an obvious candidate for multiplayer action should only come with one controller is something of a mystery, especially when the Mario Party 7 bundle the Americans are getting – also announced this week – comes with two.

If you don’t have a GameCube, and are thinking of snapping one up late in the day for playing the new Zelda or completing a console collection, you could do a lot worse than this. And you’ll only have to hang on until November the 18th. If you squint when you’re holding the controller, you could pretend you’ve just brought home an Xbox 360. Bonanza! ...

GP2X UK have posted this news:

Dev section will open soon, GCC4 is now working Oh and some new video too! ...

While it's only been a month since Nintendo released its Game Boy Micro, the handheld is already getting a new special edition. Today in Japan, Nintendo announced it will release a special Game Boy Micro Pokémon Version on November 17. The handheld comes in a slick two-toned color, with a metallic red body, a black front panel, and a silhouette of Pikachu on the right-hand side.

The Game Boy Micro Pokémon Version will be available through Pokémon Online, Pokémon Mobile, and Pokémon Centers located throughout Japan. Preorders will be open starting October 20. The handheld will have the same 12,000 yen ($105) yen price tag as the regular Micro. It is the second special edition for the Micro, after the gold-and-red Famicom version that was released alongside the standard edition of the handheld. Neither the Famicom nor the Pokémon versions is yet available in the US.

Though the special editions of the Game Boy Micro are sure to be sought after, the regular version is selling just fine in Japan. This week's edition of Famitsu says the miniaturized version of the Game Boy Advance--the third version of the handheld--has sold more than 200,000 units since it went on sale September 13, 2005. According to Dengeki Online, the handheld sold 148,000 units during its first week of release in Japan, accounting for approximately 55 percent of hardware shipments. Its launch numbers have surpassed those of the Game Boy Advance SP, which sold 110,000 units in its first week when it was released in February of 2003.

The Game Boy Micro has been on sale in the US since September 19, but no US hardware sales figures have yet been released. ...

Market analysis firm Wedbush Morgan Securities has published a new survey on hardware sales in the US and Europe which predicts that combined Xbox 360 sales in both regions will top 2.5 million by 2006.

The report's authors calculated the figure, which breaks down to 1 million consoles sold in Europe and 1.5 million in the States, based on the assumption that manufacturing began in August.

The report also assumes that 100,000 consoles per week were initially being produced, with that figure rising to 150,000 or more by the end of the year - making for a weekly average of around 130,000 consoles.

Wedbush Morgan also forecasts that Xbox 360 purchasers will buy two games at launch, and a further three games after two months - with the same ratio applying to rival consoles PlayStation 3 and Revolution when they go on sale next year. Xbox software sales will total USD 380 million in 2005, according to the report.

The survey focuses on current generation hardware too, revealing that PS2 has an installed base of 51 million units in the US and Europe. The figure for Xbox stands at 18 million, while for GameCube it's 13.2 million.

Wedbush Morgan predicts that Sony will slash the PS2's price tag from USD 199 to USD 149 on or near the Xbox 360 launch date - November 22 in the US, December 2 in Europe and December 10 in Japan. There's no suggestion that Microsoft might follow suit and reduce the price of the current generation Xbox, as Wedbush Morgan believes manufacturing costs are too high to make a further price cut viable.

The report also predicts that hardware sales will rise to 40 million this year - up from 35 million in 2004. ...

News From Lik Sang

Release Date / Price Point

First out of the gate for this generation, the Xbox 360 hits America on Tuesday Nov 22nd, two days before Thanksgiving, then Europe on Friday Dec 2nd, and Japan on Saturday Dec 10th. As Peter Moore, corporate Vice President of Xbox, told IGN recently, "If there is a lesson I think we have learned in the previous generation it's that gamers want choice. Some gamers want simply to play a game and have none of the, in their estimation, some of the frills of the gaming experience, and price becomes paramount for them." Thus there is two different packs, the first of which, the Core System, includes a wired controller and standard AV cable for US$ 299. The Premium Bundle boasts a wireless pad, component HD-AV cable, detachable 20 GB hard drive, Xbox Live Headset, Multi-Media Remote, and free Xbox Live Silver membership for US$ 399.

The premium bundle will go for €399.99 (US$ 479) in Europe, and £279.99 (US$ 499) for the UK, while the Core System will be €299.99 (US$ 359) in Europe, and £209.99 (US$ 369) in the UK. For those who get the core system, without a hard drive, a 64M memory card can be purchased, and games now list the amount of space their saves take on the back of the box. Japanese players however, can pick up the full premium bundle at only 37,900 yen (US$ 334), and no core system will be offered there. The hard drive in every continent comes pre-loaded with a custom soundtrack, High Definition video including a "Making of Xbox 360" feature, and a free arcade puzzle game from Alexy Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris, titled Hexic.

The Games

Moving onto the games, while a final list of titles you'll be able to buy on day one isn't available yet, here's the 17 games announced by Microsoft and various third parties that they intend to try and ship at launch:

• Project Gotham Racing 3
• Kameo: Elements of Power
• Perfect Dark Zero
• Madden NFL 06
• NBA Live 06
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
• FIFA 06
• Need for Speed Most Wanted
• NBA 2K6
• NHL 2K6
• Top Spin 2
• Amped 3
• Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• Call of Duty 2
• Quake 4
• Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
• Gun

Absent from the list but still expected to release this year are the likes of Dead or Alive 4 (complete with Halo's Master Chief!), Peter Jackson's King Kong, Saint's Row, Full Auto, Condemned: Origins, Final Fantasy XI and more.

Currently the only title to require the hard drive is the last in the list, Final Fantasy XI. Those who do get the 20 GB hard drive though, can also enjoy backwards compatibility with the "best selling Xbox titles". While as it's achieved using an Xbox emulator running on vastly different hardware, this doesn't include all games, but Microsoft will release patches online to expand the compatibility library as time goes on.

The Controller

The 360's pad is similar in size to the Xbox S controller, but smoother, sleeker and lighter, in fact quite a lot lighter with the wired version. While there were no complaints about poor build quality with the original Xbox pad, the new controller is reported to feel a lot stronger. The rarely used black and white buttons are gone from the front, and have become two DualShock style shoulder buttons on the top. Past those is the two larger style triggers racing fans love, giving you a large range of analog control. Much to the delight of those who played Xbox for many, many hours, the face buttons are now more round and comfortable, and in the upper mid section of the pad sits the circle of light. With four different quadrants of light, this is used to show you which of four players you are, and could be for example, used to show which section of a split screen match you're playing in.

When an Xbox Live message comes through, which will pop up without interrupting or slowing down your game, you can press the "X" in the middle of the circle of light, to pause and respond. Likewise you can use it to jump straight into music, pictures, DVD playback and more. Moving on, down the bottom of the pad is the integrated headset port for Xbox Live play, which can be used with either the wireless or wired controller.

The 360 supports up to 4 controllers, and we'd assume has enough wireless channels to handle those 16 player link-up fests. Using 2.4 GHz wireless technology with a 30-foot range, the wireless pad is powered by two AA batteries, which lasts for up to 40 hours. Features include the ability to turn rumble mode on or off to save power, and the ring of light will change from green to orange when batteries are running low, and then to red for that last final warning. For those dreaded moments when the battery does run low, the optional Play & Charge Kit lets you recharge while you game. This also comes with a standard NiMH rechargeable battery pack, which lasts for 30 hours. Lastly, the ability to turn on or off the Xbox 360 console from the controller ensures short of changing discs, you'll never have to move one iota off the couch.

Online Functionality and Accessories ...