Back in October of last year a source within Nintendo told us that the Revolution would launch across the globe in June of 2006. This information led to not a small amount of investigation, resulting in this article: Exclusive: Revolution to Launch Worldwide in June 2006

From the report:


“As of early October this year, we had agreed with all key partners that a global ship date of June 2006 was achievable,” said one of SPOnG 's several sources associated with the Revolution manufacturing process. “Nintendo will get the launch in Japan and America and Europe as close as possible. It will be like the Xbox 360 launch, only tighter.”

“Everyone at Nintendo in all territories is now focusing on a global launch in June of next year,” another highly-placed source told us yesterday afternoon, under terms of anonymity. “The European launch might slip into July, but that’s it. Everyone at Nintendo has been briefed for this date and the official release schedule everyone is working to shows Revolution down for June 2006; this is simply a matter of fact.”


The report caused quite a stir, though many doubted the timeframe, in spite of the fact that senior sources within Nintendo and its close partners assured us it was the case.

To add a bit of rare background to this piece, at the time the news broke on SPOnG, we were aware that several games media outlets in Japan had been briefed either casually off the record or under terms of non-disclosure that Nintendo's internal target and that of its partners was June 2006. Over the course of several meetings, a long-time SPOnG mole was made privy to these plans, prompting the investigation into Revolution launch plans and netting the comments published above.

Almost half a year has passed since date of publication and SPOnG has monitored the situation closely. Those associated with Revolution's debut within Nintendo and at its partners still indicate that the June date has remained unchanged, though a more protracted cross-territory launch phase is now planned.

The open secret has now made its second escape into the public domain. "There are rumours that the Revolution could be released as early as June," said Akiteru Itoh of Tokyo-based Media Create in the latest Business Week. "If that happens, and Nintendo sells around 1 million units, Sony would have a harder time catching up,” he continued.

An announcement at this week's GDC is a possibility, with Nintendo seemingly planning to reveal the final name of its console on Thursday. An indicator as to the launch plans could also be on the cards, given that E3, the next global platform for game announcement, would be just weeks before the alleged launch.

Keep it locked this week for the skinny from San Jose as it happens.
http://news.spong.com/article/9802 ...

From what SPOnG can tell, there is currently 86,793 blogs dedicated to wondering about Revolution. And from what we've read, 92.7% of everything they ever write about concerns whether the name of Nintendo's Revolution will remain Revolution, or whether it will be changed to something more appropriate. SPOnG would suggest that the fact Nintendo has repeatedly stated Revolution is strictly a codename renders 100% of these articles as useful as a JoWood press disc, but that's just us. We're kind of mean-spirited.

So what, we wonder, will armies of teenage boys with no girlfriends whose parents only bought them a GameCube (thus enslaving them into a lifetime of fanboy loneliness) do with their spare time after Thursday, when, at the 2006 Games Developers Conference in San Jose, Nintendo will announce the final name of its next console?

Well-placed pre-show chatter has it that Nintendo President Satoru Iwata will announce the final, retail name of Revolution on Thursday, ending the pain of us being emailed by various webmasters boasting new and brilliant headlines such as “Nintendo Revolution: Not Final Name!!!” and the equally thrilling “Nintendo Revolution: Final Name!!!”.

As to what Nintendo will call its increasingly delicious box of tricks is anyone's guess, though we hear from colleagues in Japan that a reference to the Famicom may well be on the cards. If you have a boring and predictable, or even insightful and thrilling guess as to what the name may be, do let us know in the forum located south of these very words.

http://news.spong.com/article/9801 ...

Source - Joystiq

All the compiled reviews from Game Rankings are in, and Tetris DS scored an average game ratio of 90%. I guess that Russian music, when done right, never gets old. Here's what some of the critics are saying:

Gamerz Edge 94% - "Tetris is already extremely addictive; when you add to a formula that has endured so remarkably over the past two decades several more completely new and unique ways to play, you have a game that is nearly impossible to put down. Tetris DS is simply one of the greatest puzzle games in years."
GameSpot 75% - "Tetris DS has a lot going for it--plenty of gameplay modes, amazing game sharing, and online play--which makes it all the more disappointing that it contains no 'pure' Tetris experience, and features a weak selection of online gameplay modes."
GamePro 100% - "Tetris DS is chock full of anything and everything you could ever want in the classic portable puzzler. It has six unique modes, each based on original Nintendo themes of Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, and Metroid." ...

Source - Joystiq

All the compiled reviews from Game Rankings are in, and Tetris DS scored an average game ratio of 90%. I guess that Russian music, when done right, never gets old. Here's what some of the critics are saying:

Gamerz Edge 94% - "Tetris is already extremely addictive; when you add to a formula that has endured so remarkably over the past two decades several more completely new and unique ways to play, you have a game that is nearly impossible to put down. Tetris DS is simply one of the greatest puzzle games in years."
GameSpot 75% - "Tetris DS has a lot going for it--plenty of gameplay modes, amazing game sharing, and online play--which makes it all the more disappointing that it contains no 'pure' Tetris experience, and features a weak selection of online gameplay modes."
GamePro 100% - "Tetris DS is chock full of anything and everything you could ever want in the classic portable puzzler. It has six unique modes, each based on original Nintendo themes of Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, and Metroid." ...

Source - Joystiq

At the time of writing, Metroid Prime: Hunters for the Nintendo DS has a compiled ratio of 90% in terms of game quality with several other reviews outstanding. Here's the first claims regarding the multi-player shooter in question:

IGN 90% - "The NST team really went all out for this online experience - not only is the game tracking an enormous amount of statistics, but it's also the first DS game to support voice chatting via the system's microphone... Metroid Prime Hunters is easily the best handheld first person shooter developed to date, even with its somewhat high learning curve and cramp-inducing control."
GamePro 90% - "Approximately as big as Metroid Prime on the GameCube, it's hard to imagine how Nintendo squeezed Hunters into a tiny DS cartridge. Metroid Prime: Hunters is a very polished game, suffering more from small quirks than actual flaws."
Not the most varying scores, so be sure to check out the average score as the week goes on if you're still skeptical about this title. Not that you should be. ...

Source - Joystiq

At the time of writing, Metroid Prime: Hunters for the Nintendo DS has a compiled ratio of 90% in terms of game quality with several other reviews outstanding. Here's the first claims regarding the multi-player shooter in question:

IGN 90% - "The NST team really went all out for this online experience - not only is the game tracking an enormous amount of statistics, but it's also the first DS game to support voice chatting via the system's microphone... Metroid Prime Hunters is easily the best handheld first person shooter developed to date, even with its somewhat high learning curve and cramp-inducing control."
GamePro 90% - "Approximately as big as Metroid Prime on the GameCube, it's hard to imagine how Nintendo squeezed Hunters into a tiny DS cartridge. Metroid Prime: Hunters is a very polished game, suffering more from small quirks than actual flaws."
Not the most varying scores, so be sure to check out the average score as the week goes on if you're still skeptical about this title. Not that you should be. ...

Tales of the Tempest is the latest in Namco's long-runnning 'Tales' RPG series, which is due out for DS in Japan next month. Avid importer or not, be sure to check out our +12 new screens of attractiveness.

http://www.gamesradar.com/gb/ds/game...sectionId=1006

Tempest certainly looks pretty, which is to be expected - all recent Tales games on a variety of formats have packed in some truly colourful environments - and will feature a real-time combat system centred on the use of the stylus.

Still, while it's technically a new Tales, it's very much an old tale, revolving around monsters attacking a quaint little village and a teenage boy who sets off on a voyage of discovery and spiky haircuts. So, expect lovely character designs, but not lovely characters. ...

Tales of the Tempest is the latest in Namco's long-runnning 'Tales' RPG series, which is due out for DS in Japan next month. Avid importer or not, be sure to check out our +12 new screens of attractiveness.

http://www.gamesradar.com/gb/ds/game...sectionId=1006

Tempest certainly looks pretty, which is to be expected - all recent Tales games on a variety of formats have packed in some truly colourful environments - and will feature a real-time combat system centred on the use of the stylus.

Still, while it's technically a new Tales, it's very much an old tale, revolving around monsters attacking a quaint little village and a teenage boy who sets off on a voyage of discovery and spiky haircuts. So, expect lovely character designs, but not lovely characters. ...

Publisher Eidos has announced today that its upcoming government-toppling action title, Just Cause, will also make an appearance on Xbox 360 this autumn, in addition to the previously confirmed releases for PC, Xbox and PS2.

Developed by Avalanche Studios, Just Cause offers a volatile mix of political turmoil, weapons of mass destruction, rebel factions and drug cartels all bubbling away nicely under the relentless sun of tropical South American island, San Esperito.

You slip into the cunning shoes of undercover CIA operative, Rico Rodriguez, as he's air-dropped to the beautiful - but not particularly tourist friendly - Esperito in an assignment to overthrow the dodgy-as-you-like government as it becomes an increasing threat to world peace.

Over 300 missions will feature and a variety of land, sea and air vehicles will be at your disposal for getting around the island - which consists of mountain, beach, jungle, city and village areas - efficiently.

Rodriguez will apparently be able to use any scheming methods he chooses to destabilise and ultimately rid Esperito of its crooked leaders, whether it's aiding rebel forces, sparking an uprising amongst the population or by fanning the flames of friction between the island's various rival factions. In other words, making muchos trouble.

http://www.gamesradar.com/gb/xbox360...sectionId=1006 ...