This is what it must feel like to roll in a 1987 Ford Escort. While the rest of the gaming public was playing with their long-awaited PSPs last week, I spent 96 hours test-driving the Gizmondo, putting it through its paces, hoping to see how it stacks up to other gaming handhelds on the market. One thing to note: Despite earlier reports, the Gizmondo has pushed back the US release of its device until Q3—thereby avoiding the complete suicide of trying to toe-up with the PSP. I was told, however, that the unit I trialed would be nearly identical to the final product, minus a few software upgrades.

I’ll admit to being pleasantly surprised. Lightweight and ergonomic, the Gizmondo is made from a rubberized plastic that feels sort of like velvet. It’s a weird, but not unpleasant sensation. The 2.8” TFT color screen is bright and prominent—all of the games and videos I watched on the Gizmondo were easy to see, even in outdoor settings where there was lots of ambient light. Finally, the button configuration is intuitive, obviously designed to be instantly familiar to anyone that’s ever used a Playstation or X-Box controller.

The Gizmondo is a jack of all trades. Its Samsung ARM9, 400 Mhz processor along with the Nvidia GoForce 3D graphics accelerator combined to make watching videos easy, though I experienced some pixelation and a choppy frame rate while trying to watch the Halo 2 and Nelly videos that came pre-installed. Window CE-based, the Gizmondo comes pre-loaded with Windows Media Player 9, so it supports MPEG 4 playback. It also comes with a built-in MP3 player is a nice addition—though it took me a minute to release that the volume control could be adjusted by pressing the two shoulder buttons—the controls weren’t as intuitive as I’d like. Strangely, the Gizmondo’s sole speaker is positioned right under the keypad, which meant I was constantly muffling the sound whenever I was playing a game, or holding the Gizmondo in two hands while watching a video. Thankfully, storage’s not a problem. In addition to 32 megabytes of on-board memory, the Gizmondo also features a SD slot for removable storage—and the unit had no problem recognzing a card full of music and picutres I inserted. For good measure, the Gizmondo designers also threw in a Bluetooth radio, GPRS connectivity, a SiRF-designed GPS chip, and, finally, a VGA camera.

Yet, the Gizmondo manages to master none of these features. Take, for instance, the camera. I know the few folks that go out and buy one of these won’t be doing so for the camera—but the Gizmondo has one of the worst I’ve seen (even worse than the original Treo 600). The pictures were reddish, and the resolution horrible. Sending messages is also a bear. With no keyboard, I was forced to bang out SMS messages or try and enter contact information into the contact app (yet another feature) on a tiny virtual keyboard, using the rocker and a button. This is sub-optimal, at best. (It makes you wonder why they even bothered.) Far more discouraging, however, were the games. If—as the entire history of console systems suggests—content is what sells hardware, than the Gizmondo is DOA. I played their flagship title—a Grand Theft Auto-like game called “Colors”—for an hour or so, and while the 3d graphics were impressive, the gameplay was boring, and long. Trailblazer—an action game where you race along a course in space—was fun, but certainly not worthy of any real attention. This platform needs some developer love, and quick. I just don’t see how they’ll get it, with Sony and Nintendo commanding so much attention right now.

The final nail in the coffin is the $400 pricetag. Did these guys learn nothing from the N-Gage? With few, if any, compelling games and nothing that really sets the Gizmondo apart, besides an impressive spec sheet, its hard to imagine anyone running out to pick one of these up. It’s a shame, too, because the Gizmondo has potential. The only chance they have is to hire a smart marketer and some crafty developers to position the Gizmondo as something other than a game device—punch up its GPS skills, or something. Even that’s a stretch, but its either that or an early retirement. Right now, I’m leaning towards the latter. ...

More News from Dreamcast Scene:

Curious how the Breakpoint 2005 looked like? We uploaded some of our photos at the Breakpoint 2005 impressions article, including some new links to other galleries. We also had the "Prestige" and "one" t-shirts at the party and sold almost all of it! So expect an improved re-press soon!
The Dreamcast demo "raytracement killers" by Speckdrumm, which was released there, also got a pouet entry in the meanwhile which also has a screenshot included. See here:
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=16378

More information here --> http://www.dreamcast-scene.com/index...005Impressions ...

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed more details of the next-gen Revolution console, focusing on the company's plans to make online gaming more accessible and overhaul the way controllers are designed.

Speaking to Japanese weekly Nikkei Business in an interview partially translated by US website GameSpot, Iwata-san confirmed that Revolution will feature wireless LAN capability and said he hoped it would make playing games online easier for consumers.

"The next-generation console will follow along the same line as the DS [for wireless LAN]," he said. "The ideal is for users to be able to connect to the Internet without having to think about it."

Iwata-san touched on online play in his recent speech at the Game Developers' Conference, where he confirmed that the Revolution would feature wi-fi technology as a standard feature.

He went on to reveal that the Revolution had received more positive response from developers than expected, partially due to Nintendo's intention to do everything possible to keep development costs low. As part of these plans, the Revolution will use the GameCube's software libraries and application program interfaces.

Itawa-san did not discuss recent rumours of a DS-style touch screen controller, but did say that controllers for current consoles "may satisfy the hardcore gamers, but they've become too difficult for more casual gamers."

"For the next-generation console, we plan to introduce a friendly user interface so that, for example, a mother who's watching her child playing a game might say, 'Oh, I'd like to try that too,'" he said.

"However, user interfaces are devices that can easily be imitated by other companies, so I can't reveal any details right now."

The full unveiling of the Nintendo Revolution is expected to take place at this year's E3. ...

In a striking case of deja vu, those eager beavers on the internet have managed to leak the Xbox version of Doom 3 a mere week before it was due to hit store shelves.
Word has it that the Collector's Edition has been leaked, including not just Doom 3, but singleplayer and multiplayer versions of both Doom and Doom 2. Just like the PC version, internet users have already begun to threaten the sales numbers for the game before it even hit the streets, creating a Hell on Earth for Activision and Id. Poor sales were blamed on the leak of the PC version, so we can only hope that the majority of gamers will resist temptation and buy the game when it's released next week. ...

News from Lik Sang

For the past 2 years the end of April has become a time for fans of the hugely popular Shonen Jump manga and anime to look forward to, with each release of a side-scrolling Naruto: Saikyou Ninja Daikesshuu series for the Gameboy Advance. This year however, the action is on the DS, and due April 21st, there's just less than a month left to go.

Naturally the improved graphics make use of the extra power within the NDS, but Tomy haven't missed any chances to employ the unique features of the machine either. By wielding your stylus, you can direct chakra (energy) and execute attacks, or by blowing into the microphone, can perform Goukakyuu no jutsu (a powerful fireball technique!). Meanwhile on the bottom screen are the characters you can switch between, which unlike in the first two titles, is now five instead of three. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru and Kiba are all there, along with their chakra and health bars.

Further improvements include the ability to stockpile weapons instead of just holding and using one at a time, and Naruto packs some new moves too. Being able to kick off from walls to jump higher is the first, plus he can attack while squatting, and coolest of all, can run vertically up walls like a true light footed ninja.

Since Naruto began two and a half years ago, there has been almost 125 anime episodes, not to mention the 250+ manga comics, many games across GameCube, PS2 and GBA, plus the Japanese hailing it as the next Dragonball. It's clear that if there's just one anime waiting to burst onto the world scene, it's Naruto, and this year the series finally hits America via Cartoon Networks Toonami line-up. Naruto arrives late 2005, but also worth noting is One Piece, starting in May.

With a modern twist (and bright orange clothing at that!) on the classic ninja, the story follows Uzumaki Naruto as he attempts to become the number one in the Hidden Leaf village. Because of the time it'll take for the English edition to catch up with the storyline and characters of the games, it's unlikely we'll see Naruto DS outside of Japan for a long time though. Pre-orders for this title are still being taken, with everyone receiving a free Naruto Armband, including those who have already placed their orders, exclusively at Lik Sang.

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News from Lik Sang

Just how classic games don't feel the same when played with a keyboard, for some Sega fans certain PS2 titles just don't feel the same without the good old Saturn pad in their hands. Being arch enemies with the original PlayStation, back in the mid 90's no one would have believed we'd ever see the Saturn controller with an officially licensed PlayStation logo on the front, but here it is! Along with six front buttons, two triggers, a great D-pad for fighters and schmups, and a very ergonomical shape, start and select buttons have been added.

Arch enemies yes, but the Saturn was beaten down by PlayStation on the economical side of things. There's no doubt it couldn't be topped at 2D beat 'em ups however, and back in those days, the Virtua Stick was considered the best arcade stick ever made, and still is today by many old school gamers. Based on Sega's own Arcade Cabinet joysticks, the heavyweight stick has also been brought to PlayStation, complete with its large rapid fire buttons and micro-switches for smooth reliable movements. Both the controller and arcade stick were released last Thursday, just before Easter break, and are in stock and shipping within 24 hours.

For long time Sega followers, don't forget we also stock the Sega AGES titles as they are released in Japan. Coming up are Fighting Vipers then Dragon Force, a port that keeps the classic 2D look we love, but adds so much new stuff it's the first Sega AGES release to require a DVD-ROM! Also for the US though, Sega Ages Phantasy Star Trilogy is due May 1st, and includes additional storyline content, enhanced soundtracks, and improved visuals.

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Heres whats New:

CPU: Fixed the Q-flag for SMLAxy
MMU: Fixed halfword reads from LCDC VRAM
MMU: Added the math coprocessor functions (Div, Sqrt)
GPU: Added preliminary support for mode 6 (main core)
GPU: Added optional GDI rendering (no 3D support)
GPU: The preferred renderer can now be specified in dualis.ini
GPU: Added some checks for proper VRAMCNT_* values
GUI: Forgot to unload the plugins and free the memory they were using when closing the emulator (Oops..)

Moved key input to a dedicated plugin. The source for the input plugin is available for anyone who wants to write their own plugin.

Download it here: http://dualis.1emulation.com/ ...

DSemu the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance emulator for windows has seen another updated release, heres the news from this release:

I said I'd be picking up a config editor; well, I'm not. It turns out that Normmatt wrote the thing in Visual Basic, and pretty bad VB at that. Not much code I can use there, I'm afraid. I might get onto that myself at some point soon.

Regarding the CPU, I've finally decided to pick up the red lights on ARMwrestler and make 'em green. That involved fixing the flag setting code for a few of the Thumb ops, and implementing a good chunk of the enhanced DSP (in particular, short multiply and saturated addition). After all that, it does indeed mean that Wrestler green-lights fully, which is a good thing.

Download Here. ...

YoyoFr has released a new version of his all dancing all singing Little John emulator to the Tapwave Zodiac Console and Pocket PC ( the emulator emulates Snes, Gameboy and Nes and others), heres whats new:

[ALL] Added battery level info & time on in-emulation GUI.


Download Here ...