SuccessHK have the US version of Sonic DS in stock:



The popular and favorite blue due with 'tude, Sonic The Hedgehog, blasts his way onto the Nintendo DS and takes high-speed action gaming to a hole new level...literally! He's the fastest blue hedgehog on this planet and now he's pairing up with royalty - Quen, Blaze the Cat. This dynamic duo is a pair from different dimensions...but it's a match made to save the world! In search of the Sol Emerald, Sonic and Blaze must battle it out in their own worlds, but as they do, ripple effects will change the events of the others. ...

If you're hoping to hurtle headfirst into the next-generation of gaming when Xbox 360 launches tomorrow, having secured yourself one of Microsoft's super machines you'll undoubtedly want to grab some of the first wave of games touting 360's awesome power.

So, to help steer you away from the ports and the poor and guide you lovingly towards the ass-kicking next-gen gems, we've compiled this concise guide to the launch games. You can find the complete unabridged, unofficial, unbiased and unrivalled reviews in the latest issue of Xbox World 360, which is on sale now.

Amped 3
It's impossible to dislike Amped 3 - it has real character, is hugely ambitious in size and scope, there's plenty to keep you occupied and, even if it isn't all that immediate, it is accessible. It could have done with more time, but this is still the best Amped game yet and offers SSX real competition.
Xbox World 360 rating: 84%

Call of Duty 2
The shockingly powerful action of Call of Duty 2 never stops; despite the linearity, the shimmering illusion of war is never truly shattered as the game just doesn't let you relax for even the splittest of seconds. This is a spectacular next-gen showpiece and a must-own 360 gem.
Xbox World 360 rating: 90%

Condemned Criminal Origins
Condemned draws intelligently on such horror and thriller classics as Psycho, Seven and Silence of the Lambs and excels at creating a chilling atmosphere. Visually stunning, buttock-clenchingly tense and packed with in-your-face violence, this brutal thriller is guaranteed to have you gripped from start to finish.
Xbox World 360 rating: 89%

Gun
If Neversoft had concentrated on making this a real 360 title - rather than more or less a straight port from Xbox - by adding in real freedom and choice as well as visual splendour, then we'd be searching for superlatives to sum it up. Instead, the end result can only really be described as tepid.
Xbox World 360 rating: 73%

Kameo Elements of Power
A curious fantasy affair that by turns delights and frustrates, innovates and gets bogged down in genre cliches. A huge technical showcase for what Xbox 360 is capable of, Kameo is stunningly beautiful to look at and fun to play, but the adventure itself is short of greatness.
Xbox World 360 rating: 83%

King Kong
Running along a completely linear path following one of your mates - which is what a good deal of the game involves - is not actively playing a game. Not in our book anyway. An above average movie tie-in, King Kong is big on style, but low on substance and distressingly short on gameplay ideas.
Xbox World 360 rating: 72%

Need for Speed Most Wanted
Not as knuckle-blanchingly rapid or as visceral a racer as Burnout on old flavour Xbox, Most Wanted is an evolution rather than a revolution for the series. It's still an enormous amount of fun, however, and for our money the most comprehensive and polished Need for Speed yet.
Xbox World 360 rating: 81%

Perfect Dark Zero
Although it doesn't immediately rock the next-gen-o-meter, the more you play, the deeper you'll fall in love with Joanna Dark, her gorgeous guns and the superb level design. The fact that it looks the business too means that this feels like the return to form that Rare followers have been itching for.

You can find the complete Perfect Dark Zero review in the upcoming issue of Xbox World 360, which goes on sale 22 December.
Xbox World 360 rating: 85%

Project Gotham Racing 3
Exquisitely blending realism and mind-boggling physics with glorious arcade-style playability, PGR3 is gorgeous in every possible way and the best racer we've ever played. Not only does it live up to its considerable hype, it overtakes it. Bloody brilliant and essential Xbox 360 gaming. Buy it.
Xbox World 360 rating: 92%

Quake 4
Bloody - and bloodily - brilliant and rammed with set-pieces that are set to stun, you'll come away from Quake 4 feeling utterly entertained. However, if you want more for your fifty quid than a 10-hour queue of death-hungry Strogg, you'd best point your shotgun sights elsewhere.

You can find the complete Quake 4 review in the upcoming issue of Xbox World 360, which goes on sale 22 December.
Xbox World 360 rating: 78%

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
It looks beautiful, but that can't help disguise the fact that this is inferior to the Xbox version in all but graphics. Even if you are keen to play Tiger Woods on a next-gen console you should wait for the 2007 version, which is what the folks at EA should have done.
Xbox World 360 rating: 53%

Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
You'll be crushed at the sight of it looking identical to the Xbox version and offering no additional content - and that pretty much seems to sum up the whole experience. The bottom line is that this is running desperately thin on ideas and brings too little that's new or involving.
Xbox World 360 rating: 75% ...

For all its successes elsewhere, the original Xbox never sold very well in Japan. But that might be about to change, for Microsoft's next-gen machine is picking up interest and high scores across the nation, including polling ahead of Nintendo's Revolution at the Tokyo Game Show.

In a survey of 1084 people undertaken at TGS in September, 71.8% said they were most looking forward to PS3, but a surprising 23% said they would rather own an Xbox 360, ahead of Revolution with 20.9%.

And just to emphasise how much of a growth in expectation that is, 86% of the gamers who voted already owned a PS2, 32% had a Gamecube while only 11% owned the original version of uncle Bill's console.

Of course, a pinch of salt is needed with every statistic and here are a few grams of sodium to help your digestion: this self-selecting group of Tokyo's most hardcore, 54% Super Famicon-owning, RPG obsessed gamers had just been given the chance to get hands-on with 360 all day, while all they had to see of Revolution was the new TV remote-style controller.

While the punters seem to be looking forward to Xbox 360, the Japanese press seem positively delighted with the machine's launch line-up. Highly respected gaming weekly Famitsu has rated Ridge Racer at 34/40, Need for Speed Most Wanted at 33/40 and Perfect Dark Zero at 33/40. Which is none to shabby compared to Mario Kart DS's 36/40.

Whatever the reception it expects, Microsoft itself is making final preparations for Xbox 360's Japanese launch on 10 December by erecting four giant Xbox statues across the country.

Standing 12 feet tall and playing game trailers on a 36 inch screen they will either promote a flurry of sales, or terrify the tiny and timid Japanese nation into thinking that that really is how big 360 is. ...

News from Gamesradar

Highly respected US magazine Time has put PSP on its shortlist for Best Invention of 2005. Sony's sexy handheld is in the Live Wires category, alongside a really clever bit of rope and a watch alarm that won't always go off.

The Smart Rope is stuffed with conductive fibres and communicates with a handset warning if it's under too much strain – perhaps alerting fat rock climbers with soothing 'You are about to die – but at least you were doing what you loved' messages.

The watch features a really thoughtful alarm which won't wake you if it's a bad time, such as when you're fast asleep. A motion sensor looks for the restlessness of light sleep and allows the alarm to sound then, having delayed it for up to 20 minutes.

Consequently, wearers need never suffer the grogginess of waking from dream sleep as they sprint through bus fumes with their trousers on backwards and half a piece of toast in their hair.

PSP runs games, shows widescreen movies, plays music, manages photos, wirelessly surfs the internet and streams live podcasts, despite being small enough to fit in an inside pocket. ...

The next-generation games consoles become a reality in Europe tonight with the arrival of Microsoft's Xbox 360, which will be rolling out across the continent at midnight accompanied by fifteen game titles.

Many stores around the UK and continental Europe will be opening at midnight to allow customers to pick up their consoles as early as possible - although exactly how many consumers will be able to buy the systems tonight remains unclear.

Microsoft has remained largely silent on shipment volumes for Europe, with the closest thing we have to an official indication of the day one shipment numbers being a comment from Microsoft executive Chris Lewis that an estimate of 300,000 units was "not far removed from reality."

However, Xbox global marketing and publishing boss Peter Moore has admitted that many of those hoping to bring home an Xbox 360 in time for Christmas may be disappointed, commenting that "the demand is overwhelming".

Many retailers, particularly specialist retailers, have been running pre-order schemes for the console and will have no units available for customers who walk in tonight or tomorrow morning. Pre-orders at some retailers shut weeks or even months ago, and even some customers who pre-ordered consoles may not get their hardware for a few weeks.

However, others - including several mass-market retailers such as supermarkets - are going to operate a first-come first-served system for their supplies of consoles, with midnight openings being the order of the day for those outlets.

Long queues are likely to be futile, however. Even the largest mainstream retailers have complained of small allocations of stock, with one major supermarket chain in the UK reported to have been allocated less than a thousand units of hardware in total - less than 12 for each of its stores.

In terms of what gamers will actually be able to buy tonight, there are two basic packs of hardware - the "premium" GBP 279.99 standard Xbox 360 pack, and a GBP 209.99 "Core System" pack, which has no hard drive and uses wired controllers rather than wireless ones.

However, many retailers refuse to sell the system outside of a software bundle - with Toys R Us, for example, demanding GBP 399 for its cheapest premium system bundle, which includes both videogames and DVDs.

15 individual games will launch with the system, priced at GBP 49.99 and including a strong selection of both first- and third-party games. Microsoft itself is leading out with three UK-developed games - Rare's Kameo: Elements of Power and Perfect Dark Zero titles, and Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing 3.

In terms of third-party games, platform exclusives Amped 3 (2K Sports), Condemned: Criminal Origins (SEGA) and FIFA 06: Road to the World Cup (EA Sports) are joined by a number of high profile titles also available on other platforms such as Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4 (both Activision), King Kong (Ubisoft), GUN (Activision) and Need for Speed: Most Wanted (Electronic Arts). ...

GamesIndustry.biz has learned that Toys R Us will force customers who want to take an Xbox 360 home when the console launches tomorrow to purchase bundles which include specified games and DVDs.

Several customer representatives from Toys R Us branches across the country confirmed to GI.biz that the bundles will start at GBP 299 for the Xbox 360 core system (which does not include a hard drive), a 64MB memory unit, Ubisoft's King Kong and two DVDs - Bend it Like Beckham and The Italian Job..

Alternatively, consumers can purchase a GBP 349 bundle comprised of the core system, memory unit, King Kong and Perfect Dark Zero, plus The Italian Job, The Last Samurai and Swordfish DVDs.

Premium system bundles will start at GBP 399 for an Xbox 360 with hard drive, King Kong, Amped 3 and two DVDs. The most expensive bundle, at GBP 450, replaces Amped 3 with Project Gotham Racing 3 and comes with three DVDs.

In stores where it is available outside a bundle, the core system retails for GBP 209.99 while the premium system is GBP 279.99. The memory unit is GBP 22.99, and games carry an RRP of GBP 49.99.

Which means consumers purchasing, for example, the most expensive bundle will be paying more than GBP 23 for DVDs like Swordfish - a film which is available from retailers such as Amazon for as little as GBP 5.97.

There also seems to be some confusion over whether all Xbox 360 buyers will have to purchase a bundle. One store told GI.biz that customers who pre-ordered their console would not be required to buy one of the bundles and could simply take home the standalone system - while another branch said that the rule would apply to all customers, even if they did not sign up for a bundle when they pre-ordered.

A third store said that pricing for systems and bundles was yet to be confirmed, even though the console is due to launch in less than 24 hours, adding that more information would be available later in the day.

Toys R Us head office did not respond to requests for comment. ...

News from Gamesindustry.Biz

Sony has responded to reports that consumers are angry at being forced to buy two games with their PSP Gigapack bundles, telling GamesIndustry.biz that standalone packs will be available in time for Christmas.

The Gigapack includes a PSP unit and 1GB Memory Stick, and carries an RRP of GBP 214.99 - but at present, it cannot be bought as a standalone bundle.

Instead, consumers are also required to buy a two additional games if they wish to purchase a Gigapack - namely Sony-published titles Everybody's Golf and World Tour Soccer.

Consumers have complained that they feel forced into buying these games and thereby paying extra for their Gigapacks, since the games bundle retails for GBP 269.99. But speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, a Sony spokesperson said: "The limited edition PSP Gigapack and Games Bundle is our current retail promotion offering exceptional value to consumers who can enjoy the console with two games and added accessories such as the 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo, a USB cable and a hands free PSP stand."

"We are looking to extend this limited edition run for gifters as a standalone PSP Gigapack closer to Christmas. And, of course, consumers have the option to purchase the regular PSP Value Pack instore."

The Value Pack, which includes a Memory Stick with only 32MB of storage, retails for GBP 179.99. Sony-branded 1GB Memory Sticks are available separately for around GBP 60.

Lik Sang sell the GIGA Pack seperately. ...

no_skill has ported the abstract shootemup Spout to the GP2X, heres a screen:



Download Here --> http://gp2x-emulation.dcemu.co.uk/spout.shtml ...

Andrew Williams has released a Pong game for the Gp2X, although simple its a great start to developing for the GP2X:



Download Here --> http://gp2x-emulation.dcemu.co.uk/pong.shtml ...