Aussie getting one new DS, Japan getting TWO.

Nintendo Australia has confirmed yesterday that Australia (and by that, I assume NZ as well) is adding a new colour to the DS family. The Ice Blue DS will go on sale on 29th July with the RRP of AU$199.95 (same as every other DS). That brings the total colour to 4 - Crystal White, Ice Blue, Noble Pink and Jet Black. No words on its Europe release.
Meanwhile, not to be outdone, not only did Nintendo of Japan announce today that they are getting TWO new colours, they are also coming out before us Aussies getting our hands on the Ice Blue DS. Metallic Rose and Gloss Silver are coming out on 23rd June, joining Crystal White, Ice Blue, Enamel Navy, Noble Pink and Jet Black to make it 7 colours.

What colour are they bring out next? Rainbow?

Source: PalGN, Aussie-Nintendo

Sega profit dropped 34%

Sega, the maker of Sonic and Daytona USA, reported 34% drop in profit for the 06-07 fiscal year. Profit fell to 43.5 billion yen (US$363 million), down from 66.2 billion yen the previous year.

Sega merged with pachinko maker Sammy in October 2004. The pachinko machine sales nose-dived 20 percent in the past fiscal year, and times will continue to be tough in that business in coming months. Guess not everyone is into Evangelion pachinko machines. Maybe they all went home to play Evangelion pachinko instead.

Sega Sammy projected a deteriorating 35 billion yen (US$292 million) profit for the fiscal year through March 2008.

Source: Mainichi Newspaper

Japanese Phoenix Wright 3 going bilingual

Same with Phoenix Wright 1 and 2, the Japanese version of Phoenix Wright 3: Trails and Tribulations, will come with an option to play the game in English. Not that it matters much to those in the US, given that the game will come out just a month later. But for other importers, this is great news. Between importing from Japan and the US, I'd say Japan. It's probably cheaper as well.

For those who are learning Japanese, maybe it's the way to go. Play the English version first, and then switch to Japanese, you'll have better understanding of the Japanese plot.

I have both the Japanese version of PW1 and 2, so I'm definitely thrilled about this.

Source: Kotaku

Brace yourselves, The Sims are coming to a movie theatre near you

Brace yourselves, people, because 20th Century Fox has just bought the movie rights to The Sims. Now games are not exactly the kind of media that makes a great movie. Having said that, I do enjoy the DOA movie for some unknown reason. And no, it's not because of the chicks.

Anyway, moving on... Right, The Sims. How in the world is anyone going to create a movie about... nothing? It's not Jerry, you know.

According to Sims Studio head Rod Humble, "The Sims has done an interactive version of an old story, which is what it's like to have infinite power and how do you deal with it. Given that that's an old story, you can imagine how easily that would translate to traditional story telling." Ummm, Mr Humble, if we can call you that because you certainly doesn't sound humble, but The Sims doesn't have a story to tell, you know. That's the beauty of the game, players can have their own stories.

Now you want to put that onto the big screen, that's kind of defeating the whole purpose of the game. And let's not forget the guy who helped write Scary Movie 3 is writing the screenplay. Scary Movie 3 is a crap movie. Period.

I'll tell you what, the other way this movie is going to be successful is if we see some hot lesbian action and bitch slappings. Then again, porn does the same thing.

Soucre: Joystiq

P.S. maverick_saturn_626's comment sounds better already.

TETRIS THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHEN FALLING BLOCKS COME FROM THE SKY AND LAND ON EARTH DESTROYING HUMANITY AND LIFE AS WE KNOW IT, THE ONLY ALTENATIVE IS TO GET RID OF THE BLOCKS BY GETTING STRAIGHT LINES, CAN HUMANITY DO IT? WHO KNOWS!


COMING TO A CINEMA NEAR YOU!!!!!!!!


FALLING BLOCKS HAS NEVER BEEN SO DISASTEROUS!!!!!

Nintendo up for sale

Actually, no. It's Nintendo's land that's up for sale. NoA has confirmed that Nintendo is taking bids for a 27-acre prime Redmond real estate. It's just north of the NoA headquarters and south of their neighbour, Microsoft's Redwest campus.

I thought they were close, but I didn't know they were literally this close.

Anyway, Microsoft is naturally interested in the land, given its proximity, but it's not the only one. Why didn't Nintendo want the land? It's probably because of some of its personnel are moving to NY and Silicon Valley.

Source: Kotaku, SeattlePI

Jack Thompson is at it again. This time, Bill is the target.

Virtually getting barred from suing Take Two for their games like ManHunt and GTA, Jack Thompson found a new company to sue harass. He's taking on the richest man in the known universe, Bill Gates.

Apparently, he didn't bother over Halo 1 and Halo 2, but Halo 3 is now considered "violent". Hellooo, it took you 3 instalments to realise Master Chief carries a gun? He, of course, threaten to sue if Microsoft does not stop the plan to sell the game. Microsoft, of course, would not stop any plan to sell the game. See where we are going?

Can someone just shut this guy up? He's an embarrassment to his profession and an embarrassment to the human race. Just WTF is wrong with this person? By his definition of violent, he will have to sue each and every game developer in the world, and then some.

I'm waiting for him to sue EA because a character has just bitch slapped another in The Sims. Oh, the violence. Save us from the bitch slap.

Source: GameAlmighty

Sales Chart JPN: PS2 is shining on top... literally, while PS3 sold less than 10,000

Week 14 - 20 May 2007

Last week saw yet another PS2 games taking the top honours, six months after the PS3 came out on the market. PS3 is definitely not getting any love at the moment. Anyway, PS2 is shining on top... literally. Sega's latest instalment in their Shining series, Shining Wind, sold 78,030 last week. 7,000 units behind it is a new game, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! 2 on the DS, selling closed to 71,000 units. It a sequel to Elite Beat Agents.

Number 3 is back to the PS2 again, with Odin Sphere (59,248), yet another new game. Looks like the PS2 still has the power to draw gamers in.

The top 3 spots have been taken by new games. So what happens to the old games? Well, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War on the PSP is the best selling 'old' game, with close to 39,500. Still doing quite good. The other Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings on the DS is still around (23,904) at 6th place. Wii Sports is, as usual, leading the charge for the Wii at 5th place (27,788), splitting the two FF games. Another FF game, the Final Fantasy Anniversary, however, is somewhere at 31st last week, and continue to fall. Do Japanese games have no love for it, or did they all flock to FF Tactics?

Couple of usual suspects are still in the top 20, like More Brain Training, New Super Mario, Mario Kart, Wii Play, and Animal Crossing. Notice the trend here? Yeah, they are all on the Nintendo. Sony tends to stay around the middle-to-lower end. Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd at 23rd and Pro Baseball Spirit 4 at 34th.

Detective Conan, a very popular anime series in Japan, didn't fare too well on the Wii, though. It's at 36th, and unlikely to gain any higher place.

Best selling games for each platform (that is on the chart) this week

PS2 - Shining Winds
DS - Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! 2
PSP - Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War
Wii - Wii Sports

Number of titles in the top 50 for each platform this week:

DS - 34
Wii - 7
PS2 - 5
PSP - 4

Console War VII: Battle for Nippon

Like I need to say this every week, Nintendo is still way ahead of everyone else. Let me rephase, DS is still way ahead of everyone else. It accounts for more than half of all gaming consoles sold last week. This situation has been going on for month after month after month, and looks like there is no end to it. Japanese people just love the DS. The way things are going, the DS will become the world best selling console, even surpassing the mighty PS2. But then we can't compare it like that, can we?

Well, let's look at the current-gen home console then. The Wii outsold the PS3 by 6 to 1. If you think PS3 can't get any worse, let last week's chart prove you wrong. Only 8,659 PS3 were sold last week. It's even worse than the week before. As I said, the PS3 is definitely not getting any love at the moment. With 2 games in the top3, PS2 still manages to get almost 11,000 new owners, 2,000 more than the PS3. Unbelievable.

DSL - 111,213
Wii - 52,193
PSP - 27,505
PS2 - 10,881
PS3 - 8,659
Xbox360 - 2,026

Market share this week

DSL vs PSP
80.17% vs 19.83%

Wii vs PS3 vs XBox 360
83.01% vs 13.77% vs 3.22%

Source: Media Create