Trip Hawkins founded Electronic Arts in 1982. Then he left. In 2003 he started a new game development company called Digital Chocolate. In 2009 Hawkins finally realized that the iPhone is useful to game developers, so much so that Nintendo (DS) and Sony (PSP) are “freaking out.” Well! → Read More
Odds are you’ve already played Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Perhaps you haven’t opened the box, popped out the game card and moved your Nintendo DS’ Power switch to “on,” per se, but trust me: you’ve played the game. And depending on your point of view, your attitude toward the GTA franchise, that may or may not be a bad thing. → Read More
Yes, that’s Ghostface rapping in this, the first official trailer of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Like all good trailers, there’s minimal actual gameplay shown, but worry not! Rockstar has also launched the game’s official site today, and there’s more footage of actual, true-to-life gameplay for your to view. → Read More
There’s not a damn thing I can add vis-à-vis the PSP’s performance to what Mr. Joel Johnson, OBE, wrote the other day, so good on him. I will, however, note that Sony is blaring its victory trumpets today. Why is that? It seems Sony has sold a whopping 50 million PSPs, worldwide, since its December, 2004 launch in Japan. That’s as of January, 2009, too, so the actual number may be marginally higher. Hey, any good news is great news for Sony, which, as we all know, hasn’t had a great year (but who has?). → Read More
The folks at Penguin United were generous enough to donate a couple PU 24X DS Gaming Pouches for us to give away. As my collection of DS games continues to grow by the day I’ve been running out of places to store them, so these pouches couldn’t have come at a better time. They store up to 24 games in transparent sleeves that remind me of the ones I used to store my Marvel Universe cards in and the faux leather cover adds a bit of class and mystery.
So, how can you win one of the two pouches we have to give away? Read on, friend, read on. → Read More
The next-gen Nintendo DSi is already for sale in Japan and American gamers should get access to it within the coming months. It seems that The DS Lite Onyx might be the first of the current generation to get that axe. This comes from an internal GameStop newsletter and begs the question if other models will soon join this model. → Read More
Rockstar had Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on display at the New York Comicon at the weekend. (Expect a video of the show itself sometime tomorrow; please note that editing video on a plain ol’ MacBook is stupid.) The guys at Rockstar gave us (well, me) a thorough overview of the Nintendo DS game inside a delivery van on the show floor. Sorta weird, yes. It’s hard to top Edge’s cover story from a few months back, but I will say this: whatever doubts I had about the game being “worth it”—$34.99, to be exact—are now gone. → Read More
Turn the Nintendo DS sideways and then open it. It’s like a book! ROFL!!! They should totally make it so you could read books on it, but they should only make 100 books available at first and it should only be available in Britain– like so. → Read More
The Nintendo DS Lite has already been hacked to pieces, meaning that you can buy one of those shady flash carts and load all the ROMs on there you want. The DSi, however, had been incompatible with those same cards… until now! Yes, the Aekard 2i, which comes from a long pedigree of of such cards, is now fully compatible with the DSi. In short, you copy over a bunch of files—games and music and the like—over to a MicroSD card, then you put the MicroSD card in the Aekard. Turn your DSi on and off you go. (I had one of these types of cards for the GBA, worked well enough, I suppose.) Of course, the official reason these types of cards exist is to support homebrew. We all know that’s a codeword, though. The original Aekard DS runs for around $40, but prices vary wildy. Might want to shop around, then. via Hack A Day → Read More
One thing I’ve found when playing emulated NES, SNES, and GBA games is that many of them are incredibly long, and for no good reason. For example: Dragon Warrior. Great game. Unfortunately, the slow movement speed and slow battle dialogues make the game about twice as long as it should be. My solution? Run the emulator at 200% → Read More
In case you were wondering. “DSi software (software that is only compatible with DSi) is region locked, eg: European DSi software can only be played on European DSi consoles,” a Nintendo spokesperson has told CVG. “Nintendo DS software however is region free so you can play any DS software on DSi from any region. You can also browse the Internet on your DSi wherever you are in the world and exchange your photos with friends from around the world.” “DSi is region locked because DSi embeds net communication functionality within itself and we are intending to provide net services specifically tailored for each region. Also because we are including parental control functionality for Nintendo DSi and each region has its unique age limit made by different independent.” → Read More
In an interview with Nikkei, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata explicitly stated that the DSi was not going after the iPhone. Why Iwata felt the need to clarify this is unclear based on the excerpt the Edge published, but I’d go out on a limb and say the Nikkei reporter asked the question. “We wanted users to have the device on them at all times,” he stated. “By downloading subway maps and other things, for instance, the DSi can be useful for applications other than playing games. We wanted to create an offering that would fit naturally into people’s everyday lives.” Just because something has a camera, a browser and music playback does not mean it’s been made to compete with the iPhone. It’s not the end all, be all of tech and I wish people would realize that. → Read More
Not only is that Nintendo pedometer 100 percent real, but we now know what it’s used for: a lame game. Let that sink in. Your Life Rhythm for the Nintendo DS is a walking game. Yup, you use the Nintendo-made pedometer to track your walking activities. Very, very exciting. Remember when Nintendo used to make fun video games? → Read More
The DSi is 2.6mm thinner than the DS. The GBA slot has been axed. Screens are 17 percent larger, 3.25-inches. VGA camera. Music playback. SD slot allows you to transfer images to the Wii Photo Channel. Onboard memory. A DSi store will be launched to download content via Wi-Fi. You can use your Wii points, which is now being called Nintendo Points. Built-in Web browser. November 1 launch in Japan for 18900 yen (~$180). Press conference is over, there’s lots more after the break. More here at Nintendo’s site, and videos here. → Read More
MCV out of the UK and Bloomberg are both reporting that Nintendo President Saturo Iwata will announce a new DS along with Wii accessories at a press conference in Japan tomorrow. But don’t expect a price cut says Takashi Oka, a senior analyst at CSK Institute for Sustainability: “Nintendo has no need to cut the Wii’s price,” said Takashi Oka, a senior analyst at CSK Institute for Sustainability, a Tokyo-based research firm. “If Nintendo cuts prices now, people who already bought the Wii will feel they’ve lost money. Nintendo won’t do such a thing.” But all this was expected after the Nikkei news broke the story a few days ago. We’ll see if those screens that popped up earlier this week are real too. Let’s also see if IGN’s prediction of a May 2009 launch are correct. → Read More
What does Nintendo have to say [JP] about the DS rumor that’s been floating around since the weekend? We are always developing new products. However, since nothing has been announced officially, we are unable to comment at this time. So, nothing. It’s not saying anything, one way or the other, about the rumor. Quick rumor recap: Nintendo is said to be developing a DS that includes a built-in camera and music playback. via Kotaku → Read More
If you’re a fan of the Nintendo DS, Daft Punk, synthesizers, papier mache, Adobe After Effects, and the theremin, then boy oh boy do I have a video for you. Here’s a guy doing a cover of Daft Punk’s Something About Us using a Nintendo DS and a bunch of that other stuff I just mentioned. The helmet he’s wearing, interestingly enough, weighs about a pound and is made of papier mache. All the text you see on it was put in during post production using Adobe After Effects and Softimage XSI coupled with some motion tracking and animation wizardry. [via Make] → Read More
