news via ign

Two more PS2 titles make the Wii their port of call.

Australia, November 26, 2006 - Conspiracy Entertainment Europe is joining the flood of ports headed to Wii, with both Baja Mania and Baja Destruction headed to Nintendo's new console. Originally developed for the PS2, both titles will feature "an alternative control system, designed exclusively for the Wii platform, utilising the Wii remote's tilt detection to steer and control the vehicles' speed."

Baja Mania is the more realistic of the two titles, and is based upon the specialist racing series found in the Baja region of California, where four wheels is not the norm. Reflecting this is the game's inclusion of three dune buggies (four wheels), three "cats" (six wheels) and three trucks (eight wheels). Off road racing is the order of the day, and drivers must select their own route through the open levels, ensuring they hit certain checkpoints along the way.

Baja Destruction takes the soul of Mania, but combines it with a sci-fi setting reminiscent of Mad Max. Vehicles in Destruction bristle with high-powered weaponry, allowing victory to be gained by vaporising the opposition, and several of the courses take place in low-gravity environments.

Expect both titles to hit the Wii in the first quarter of 2007.

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news via newsfactor

Although there's much talk about the game console wars between Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, and Sony's Playstation 3, the Wii actually appeals to a somewhat different audience. Nintendo's Wii costs about half as much as the PS3 and the Xbox. And the Wii is geared more toward kids and new users, rather than hardcore gamers.

es, it was a good weekend for the Wii, though not so joyous for some shoppers. Reports from around the U.S. indicate that Nintendo's new game console, which competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony Relevant Products/Services's PlayStation 3, sold out quickly. Many would-be buyers went home empty-handed, in spite of braving long lines and cold weather to purchase the much coveted game console.

Leading retailer Toys 'R Us declined to comment on the specifics of Wii sales as a matter of policy, but company spokesman Bob Friedland noted that Nintendo's new console is moving briskly. "The Wii is a hot seller at Toys 'R Us," he said.

"We'll be receiving shipments for the Wii throughout the season and expect to have them throughout the holiday," said Friedland.

A Sony Shortage

With so much demand and a gift-giving season upon us, choosing and then actually finding the right console can be tough.

Most experts believe Sony's PlayStation 3, with its bleeding-edge graphics and a built-in Blue-ray DVD drive, dominates the console market. But a production snag has led the Japanese firm to cut U.S. shipments by hundreds of thousands of units, leaving a steep shortage of PS3 units.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 could benefit from Sony's bad luck, since the Xbox vies with the PlayStation for the best graphics and sleekest effects. However, a recent snag with the Xbox 360 Live service hampered sales over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Apparently, many users who tried to download games, movies, and TV shows ran into extra-long or failed downloads.

A Different Kind of Console

Nintendo's Wii is looking better and better to plenty of gamers who don't live and die by Gears of War or Madden NFL.

In fact, the Wii is designed to reach a different market completely, one that warms to its modest price tag and balks at the price of the other, more expensive consoles. At $250, Nintendo's Wii is less than half the cost of Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox. Its games are kid- and novice-friendly, geared more towards new users and not the hardcore-gamer crowd with overly muscular thumbs.

The Wii also has a few features the others don't, including the Wiimote, a motion-sensing remote control that lets users play games simply by waving their arms through the air. Just hold the Wiimote and pretend you're swinging a golf club or shooting a gun, and your on-screen character will do the same.

The bottom line? This season's gaming king is yet to be crowned -- but the battle for consumers' hearts and hands will certainly be every bit as fierce as a good round of Thrillville, Urban Chaos, or the brand-new Bully. ...

news via cubed3

Darren Reid, author of the best selling Fantasy/Science Fiction fusion novel The Lord of Darkness and Shadow: The Chronicles of the Shadow Book One, today announces the release of a free ebook library for Nintendo Wii, DS and Sony PS3. The free ebook library contains a collection of short stories, novels and novellas which have been optimized for use with the browsers in the Nintendo Wii and DS. The first title released is The Genesis of the Shadow, a prequel novella to the best selling novel The Lord of Darkness and Shadow which is out now.

Over the coming months a number of titles will be lanuched including Two Wizards: A Chronicles of the Shadow Prequel, Xevicom Forever (a graphic novel) and an unnamed special project (TBA). These titles and others will be launched through Q4 2006 and 2007.

Darren Reid is the author of the bestselling fantasy series The Chronicles of the Shadow which has gained an international following and rave reviews from readers the world over. The story Cell was adapted into an audiobook (available on iTunes) by Parsec award winning podcast producers Variant Frequencies and the anticipated follow up to The Lord of Darkness and Shadow is due out February 2007.

Commenting on the release of Wii, DS and PS3 enhanced versions of the free ebook library Darren said "I am delighted to share my free stories and allow next-gen console owners the chance to read them as well"

The Genesis of the Shadow: The Chronicles of the Shadow Book Zero is out Monday 27th of November. ...

news via blogcritics

A strange mix of EA Sports Big SSX series and long forgotten ESPN Extreme Games on the PS1, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is a complete departure for Activision's franchise. This new spin on the game is a fantastic run that feels fresh, unique and different enough to make it a worthy addition to Tony Hawks's paycheck. Activision has crafted a winner.

Instead of a focus on absurd goals and tricks, Downhill Jam is a racing title. The superb sense of speed across a rapidly changing level design is the addictive hook that keeps you playing. The basic trick system is in place, and occasionally crucial depending on the style of the race.

The single player game is about advancing through different tiers of challenges, earning new boards to increase stats and gaining new medals to level up. Challenges vary from races, to destructive runs, to knocking over as many pedestrians as possible. Each proves different enough to make them feel separate even when barreling down a familiar track.

Controls are tailor made for the Wii. The remote is held sideways, and turning it logically turns your skater. Tricks are performed with the 1 and 2 buttons, while a special trick can be activated with the A button when a meter has been filled. There is also a boost available that fills as you trick. Shaking the remote activates it, though it has a tough time registering and it's difficult to turn and tip at the same time.

Downhill Jam is geared for a younger audience. It's nearly impossible to wipe out when landing. Randomly pressing buttons can get you through the early races as long as you pay attention to the turns. Damage is dealt by other riders who can knock you over or by hitting stationary objects that are unbreakable. Getting reset requires a rapid shaking of the controller.

Levels are crammed with shortcuts, and in later runs, you'll need to know the position of each to make it through. Exploration is a heavy risk however. Going even slightly off course can result in race altering disorientation, and it's far too difficult to recover after hitting a wall. You're better off wiping out since resetting on the track requires a press of the - button which is deep on the remote and hard to hit without losing precious seconds.

With a wicked sense of humor that makes pre-race interviews worth watching, Downhill Jam is rarely off. The stylized character design properly sets the tone, while the real life skate videos that occasionally play don't seem to mesh well. It's still inviting as the outrageous and colorful levels keep you playing to try and find any missed areas that could lead to more shortcuts (and higher medals).

Multi-player is split screen only unfortunately, as it's set up perfectly for some Wi-Fi action. Four players can play in any of the single player race modes along with two additional choices. On bases the winner on how long they were in first place, and the other knocks out racers at certain points if they're in last. There's nothing radical or innovative, though the game's simplistic combat engine can lead to fun times in tight contests.

If you're expecting to show off your skills in Tony Hawk's standard style, you're going to be disappointed. Downhill Jam puts everyone on equal footing, ignoring the countless and arguably convoluted changes the core Tony Hawk games have endured over the years. It's a nicely designed and welcome departure, at least until it's milked in what will undoubtedly years of sequels. ...

news via tgdaily

Redmond (WA) - In plain shipment numbers, Nintendo's Wii can claim to have had the most successful launch week. The manufacturer today said that more than 600,000 consoles were sold in the first eight days after launch, generating sales of more than $190 million. Meanwhile, Ebay is experiencing brisk PS3 and Wii activity with sale prices having settled around $1200 and $400, respectively.

Shipments of the $250 Nintendo Wii outpaced sales of the Xbox 360, which sold about 400,000 units during its launch week in November of last year, by more than 50% and Sony's Playstation 3, according to early estimates, by about 100%. Just like the Xbox 360 and the PS3, the Wii created a buying frenzy and sold out in a matter of minutes when it was launched on November 19. Including first-party software and accessory sales, the console has brought in revenues of about $190 million in the U.S. alone, Nintendo said.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has become the most successful Wii game so far, selling about 454,000 units.

Website NexGenWars, which tracks sales of game consoles, corrected early estimates of more than 600,000 Wii's sold on launch day. The site currently estimates Wii sales at about 561,000, PS3 sales at 316,000 and Xbox 360 sales (since November 2005) at about 7.6 million.

Ebay released its traditional Black Friday sales numbers, which included sales of next-generation game consoles and highlighted the frenzy around the Playstation 3 and Wii. The online auction house said that 14,765 PS3s were sold between November 17 and November 24 for an average price of $1186.39. Including pre-sales, which started on October 17, 28,233 PS3s changed hands through Ebay with an average price of $1369.90. At the time of this writing, 60 GB PS3s are selling at a pace of about $1000.

Nintendo Wii sales were more frequent in the consoles first week between November 19 and November 24. According to Ebay, 26,708 Wiis were sold for an average price of $412.53. Including pre-sales, which began on October 19, 29,451 Wiis were sold for an average of $427.82. Activity for Microsoft's Xbox 360, which is available in most electronics stores at any time, was dramatically less: Between November 12 and November 24, 331 Xbox 360 units were sold on Ebay. The average price was $420.62, according to the auction site. ...

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They already updated on the official site dark-alex.net ...

!!!!WARNING!!!!WARNING!!!!WARNING!!!!WARNING!!!!WA RNING!!!!WARNING!!!!

Dark-Alex.com was created by a spanish moron and its a exact copy of the original Dark Alex Page (dax.lan.st aka Dark-Alex.org) even the Warning on the official site was copied.... BEWARE!!! Every single file is available for download (different size/checksum) and every single file causes your PSP to brick!!!

http://www.dark-alex.com <----Fake Bricker site

Only Official Dark-Alex Pages:
http://dax.st
http://dax.lan.st
http://www.Dark-Alex.org
http://www.Dark-Alex.net
http://www.Dark-Alex.biz
http://www.Dark-Alex.info

They already updated on the official site dark-alex.net ...

Hi all, since the death of Lik Sang and Problems with Paypal i have been trying to get a new sponsor for the coding competition but to no avail, at present all Paypal donations were refunded and with the loss of 2 of the remaining 4 prizes it has caused a problem for the competition.

So its with sadness that im going to temporarily postpone the Coding Competition until after the new year and secure some new sponsors for the Coding Contest.

I aplogise to all those who have entered so far, i have been trying for a month to secure new prizes etc but the postponing for now will help me get things sorted and maybe have a bigger comp for the likes of PS3, wii and xbox360 also.

So again to the coders who have already entered a big sorry to you, luckily theres about 20 other coding comps at the mo and some with better prizes than what we had to offer.

Thanks for your time

wraggster ...

Pikix the VJ Software for the GP2X has been updated with a new release called Busy Mary. heres whats new:


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