via Computer and Video Games


We were surprised to hear Nintendo announce a brand new game at its spring media summit this morning - we were not surprised that said game was another Mario sports title.

Mario Super Sluggers will arrive in Japan in June and elsewhere "later this year," featuring the requisite number of mascot characters and suitably silly gameplay.

We were treated to a brief demo that showed a 5-inning match between the Mario Fireballs (firebats?) and the Peach Royals. Each team consists of a captain and what we assume will be the Mario second stringers (Shy Guys, Koopas etc), similar to the Striker games.

Control is, according to Nintendo's Bill Trinen, much like Wii Sports in both pitching and batting. The former is done by holding a button, winding up and releasing when blue halos close in around the character; the latter by simply holding the remote and swinging.

Both forms have supercharged attacks that distract or hinder the other player; we saw Mario's fire pitch scream past a batter, and later, Mario's fire swing ignite an unlucky Donkey Kong out in left field.

Sluggers is meant to be a "bridge game," in that it takes a setup casual players know (Wii Sports) and adds layers to it that core gamers already know.

For example, there is actual fielding in Sluggers, whereas Wii Sports handled all the running and catching. However, instead of introducing a deep control system, Sluggers uses only the remote and has you primarily waggling to run, waggling to throw and waggling to do just about anything else.

There wasn't any hands-on time so we can't say for sure if this simplified scheme helps or hurts the experience from a core gamer's perspective.

In a welcome twist, Sluggers actually looks decent, though perhaps not as a big leap over GameCube's Superstar Baseball as Galaxy was over Sunshine.

Expect much more as the game's ambiguous release date draws near. If it's June in Japan, and baseballers are lovingly refereed to as "the boys of summer," we'd be shocked to see it come any later than August. ...

via Eurogamer


Konami has said the European Metal Gear Online beta will run from 21st April to 6th June.

The client will be available to download from 17th April, as Sony told us earlier.

Two of the five maps from the full game will be available to mess around on: Blood Bath and Groznyi Grad.

The former is two-tiered scenario, while the latter is that big (and fantastically named) Shagohod complex from MGS3 that has human catapults to throw you around.

The other three joining these at launch are Ambush Alley with its trenches and sandbags; Midtown Maelstrom with its Middle Eastern alleyways; and Urban Ultimatum with its rooftops.

Metal Gear Online will be released alongside Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots on 12th June around the world.

It lets 16 of you fire bullets at each other online, in the hope that one will penetrate and cause massive internal bleeding and lead to death. And then respawn.

There are Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture Base and Sneaking missions. It's plenty of fun, too, as you can find out in our first impressions of Metal Gear Online. ...

CYBER_Aeon one of our members here has today released a new version of ChessNet for the Nintendo DS, heres the release details:


Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

The latest figures for the cosole shifts in Japan maintain the same positions from last weeks' reading, shown below:


Playstation Portable: 120,964
Nintendo DS Lite: 55,190
Nintendo Wii: 44,618
Playstation 3: 11,303
Playstation 2: 10,423
Xbox 360: 1,452


PSP is still at the top despite roughly a 9,000 drop. DS Lite is at 2nd taking a 2,700 dip, 3rd is the Wii down 4,100. Last ones up are the PS3, up 97, PS2 up 273 and Xbox 360 down by 105. ...

via Games Industry


Gran Turismo 5 Prologue has retained its number one chart position in Germany and Spain, according to sales information from Media-Control GfK International. Sony's racer held off opposition from Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath and Wii Play to stay at the top for the week ending April 6.

In Germany, the Command & Conquer 3 expansion took second place, with Brain Training and the Nintendo DS edition of Mario & Sonic at the Olympics taking third and fourth places.

Wii Play and More Brain Training followed, with The Settlers: Empire of the East and the Wii edition of Mario & Sonic taking fifth to eight places respectively.

New Super Mario Bros took ninth, with Who Wants to be a Millionaire for the DS rounding off the top ten, which saw Nintendo platforms accounted for seven of those number.

In Spain it was Wii Play that failed in its challenge to unseat Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, with the PlayStation Portable edition of God of War: Chains of Olympus following in third place.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 for the PSP and Wii were fourth and fifth, while Super Mario Galaxy and Magic in Action taking sixth and seventh.

Assassin's Creed, FIFA 08 and More Brain Training completed the Spanish top ten.

The full charts are as follows:

Germany
1. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (PS3)
2. Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath (PC)
3. Brain Training (DS)
4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (DS)
5. Wii Play (Wii)
6. More Brain Training (DS)
7. The Settlers: Empire of the East (PC)
8. Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (Wii)
9. New Super Mario Bros (DS)
10. Who Wants to be a Millionaire (DS)

Spain
1. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (PS3)
2. Wii Play (Wii)
3. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)
4. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PSP)
5. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Wii)
6. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
7. Magic in Action (DS)
8. Assassin's Creed (PS3)
9. FIFA 08 (PS2)
10. More Brain Training (DS) ...

According to the President of Enterbrain, (Famitsu parent company) there is a chance a new Nintendo DS model will be revealed at E3 2008.

Nintendo spokesman Hiroshi Yasushi did not deny this rumour, but told Famitsu that the company cannot comment at this point.

A new successor to the DS shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the handheld has sold over 64 million units worldwide, with Japanese sales approaching 27 million.

http://akayuki.com/2008/04/11/famits...aled-at-e3-08/ ...

Ben Heck is truly the modding god. Not only has he brought back old gaming machines back to life with newly refreshed look, hes also made a one-handed controller and has even stepped up with transforming a full next-gen console into laptops! But his latest achievement is a PlayStation 3 Laptop! It took 14 on and off months to build this masterpiece.

Want this?! You can! This is the only one Ben will make but it is being auctioned off for charity. More information to come.

Specs:

• Original 60 gig PS3 model with backwards compatibility.
• 17" HDTV 720p screen, with HDMI connection. (Same as last Xbox 360 laptop)
• Built-in keyboard and stereo audio amplifier.
• Measures 17" x 13.75" x 3" (actually thinner than a stock PS3) and weighs 16 pounds!

More Images Via Comments

Source: Engadget ...

Welcome to this week's Games Update, our weekly summary featuring all new product arrivals from the last seven days.

Releases have been calm this week, interesting games that came in include the Asian version of Major League Baseball 2K8 for Xbox360™. Play an exciting baseball match on your third generation console, this game is so realistic that commentary is given along with the match.

Another game that came out this week on the Xbox360™ is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Game of the Year Edition) where you participate in battles that only the fittest can survive.

Mario Kart Wii is a much anticipated game for Nintendo Wii™. Aside from traditional Mario Kart racing excitement, check out new courses, arenas and motorcycles. This is a game for everybody and every occasion.

Karous, a classic shooting game is revived for the Nintendo Wii™. Exciting gameplay is included in the remaking process, by utilizing the full capabilities of the console, the players slash away at the enemies with a sword to deal major damage.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the birth of the quintessential RPG series Final Fantasy, Square Enix published Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 2:Scenario. The book includes detailed plot analysis, relationships between characters and interviews with the developers. Readers are bound to get a deeper insight into the world of Final Fantasy.

As usually, here's a summary of all new releases from this week, .

Xbox360™:
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Game of the Year Edition) US US$ 64.90
Major League Baseball 2K8 ASIA US$ 49.90
Turok JPN US$ 64.90

PlayStation3™:
Dual Shock 3 (Black) US US$ 54.90

Nintendo Wii™:
Karous Wii JPN US$ 49.90
Mario Kart Wii (w/ Wii Handle) JPN US$ 64.90
The Best of HD DVD, Volume Two US US$ 84.99
Wii Handle JPN US$ 19.90

PlayStation2™:
Battle of Sunrise JPN US$ 74.90
Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica 0-4 Hanashi Full Pack JPN US$ 46.90

Sony PSP™:
Beowulf JPN US$ 14.90
God of War: Chains of Olympus ASIA US$ 42.90
Nanpure & Oekaki Puzzle 10000 Mon JPN US$ 29.90

PC and MAC™:
Assassin's Creed (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 44.90
Half-Life 2: The Orange Box (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 36.90
Musou Orochi (Chinese Verson) (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 39.90
Sango 2 (Chinese Verson) (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 24.90
XIII Century: Death or Glory (DVD-ROM) ASIA US$ 23.90

Game Guides and Books:
Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania File 2:Scenario JPN US$ 26.90
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G: Entry Level Books on Weaponry - Shooters and Bows Book 2 JPN US$ 9.90
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G: Entry Level Books on Weaponry - Slashers and Bows Book 1 JPN US$ 9.90
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G: Information on heightening your defense: Book 1 JPN US$ 9.90
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G: Information on heightening your defense: Book 2 JPN US$ 9.90
Professional Baseball Spirits 5 Official Guide JPN US$ 23.90
Star Ocean 2: Second Evolution Final Guide JPN US$ 21.90

Video Game Soundtracks:
Arcana Heart 2 - Heartful Sound Collection JPN US$ 31.90
Last Escort 2 - Shinya No Amai Toge Original Suondtrack Vol.2 JPN US$ 29.90
beatmania IIDX 15 DJ Troopers Original Soundtrack JPN US$ 39.90

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-...9-en-84-n.html ...

I'm generally pretty good about restraining from DS accessories purchases, but these classic Nintendo cases from an Etsy seller are a little piece of fantastic. Constructed of hand-sewn felt, the pieces are far from polished, mass-produced products, but that's precisely what makes them so charming in the first place. Pick one up for $13 or both for $21. In continuing with my fast food metric of the day, that's anywhere from 3-5 value meals.

http://kotaku.com/378389/yes-we-coul...ssic-ds-covers ...