Ok, so the 3DS has now been given an official release date in Japan and, following all the hoopla from E3, has this cyborg all excited!

As reported in July, the Nintendo 3DS is the successor to the current DS lineup of portable game consoles (DS & DSi) with many technological advancements over the current portables (DSi and Sony PSP). It will launch in Japan on February 26, 2011 and retail for ¥25,000 (about $298).  No specific U.S. date has been announced, although it will see release stateside and in Europe in March of 2011. There is also a large launch lineup of games coming to the portable from SEGA, Namco-Bandai, Tecmo, Konami and many others. These include some of the biggest franchises from the major publishers, some making their debut on Nintendo’s new handheld.

The ability to play and display games and movies in 3D aside, the 3DS has many features that are/could be selling points:

• Has 3 cameras: 2 front facing, one facing the gamer
• Takes 3D pictures utilizing the 2 front facing cameras
• capable of augmented reality video/gaming utilizing the 2 front facing cameras
• Automatically generates a Mii by taking a picture of someone’s face
• launch colors come in Aqua Blue and Smoke Grey
• Comes with a rechargeable docking station (pictured)
• adjustable 3D effect that can reduce the video to entirely 2D
• 2GB game cartridges that are the same size/shape as current DS cartridges
• Backwards compatible with existing DS games
• Has a slot for SD cards and comes with a 2GB SD card
• The ability to multi-task, even as you are gaming (pauses the game while you’re in the home menu or online or taking pictures/launching other apps)
• Always on Wi-Fi; can be turned off manually
• A variety of software already built-in
• Has motion and gyroscopic sensors for in-game play and other applications
• Parental Controls

There are other features of the portable not listed here which are actually shown better in these videos along with the games being released for 3DS. Please peruse them and check out the gallery of images below.

Check out this video for Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition for the 3DS

Click here to view the embedded video.

And this trailer of (some) announced games:

Click here to view the embedded video.

By Loc Da’Borg

E3 was only last month, but it left an indelible impression on most attendees. Specifically, Nintendo’s pre-E3 press conference and E3 showing showcased and debuted the coming successor to the Nintendo DS: the 3DS. This is no mere slight upgrade; the 3DS is to the DS as the GameBoy Advance was to the Gameboy.

The graphics are updated with advanced shaders, more polygons and vastly enhanced effects. That might seem like alot, but it doesn’t stop there! Oh no, there’s even 3 cameras on this baby, with the 2 front facing ones able to take both 3D pictures and 3D video. And this brings us to the obvious change and innovation: 3D gaming without the glasses. Yes, you read that right: 3D gaming without the glasses! But wait… there’s MORE!!

Can’t have a new handheld gaming system without the requisite games and demos, can you? Well the FIRST thing that was shown for the new hardware was a game hardcore gamers had been clamoring for for over a decade. When Nintendo of America VP Reggie Fils-Ames introduced Kid Icarus: Rising to a stunned audience that gave out the LOUDEST applause at a Nintendo press conference ever, it was clear that Nintendo had mastered the craft of the Pre-E3 conference. Then came the announcements by Nintendo LLC President Satoru Iwata, not only showing the actual Nintendo 3DS hardware, but also the list of 3rd party developers/publishers who were behind the platform with games in development. Ridge Racer, Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Splinter Cell, and more were announced and met with applause. This was a hardcore gamer’s wet dream come true.

Below, you’ll find the in-development game listing and hardware specs (what’s known). Happy hunting! (Click the thumbnails to view the larger pics)

Click Here To Play Pac-Man on Google.com

By Loc Da’Borg

May 22, 1980 was the day that started it all. Today marks the beginning of the 30th Anniversary of the classic game Pac-Man™. 30 years since this quarter-muncher was in arcades providing countless hours (yes hours) of enjoyment and frustration to many who have since grown up into middle age and had little ones of their own. What was once just a phenomenon of an interactive arcade game has since spawned a multi-billion dollar industry. Truly, if Computer Space was the grandfather of the modern videogame industry, then surely Pac-Man™ must be its father.

The game has spawned sequels, cartoons and a movie-in-production and is still played to this day on computers around the world, on modern game systems and is even to be found on iPhone and iPad with “Championship” editions released especially for this historic anniversary.

To help celebrate, Google has crafted into it’s homepage a playable doodle of the original Pac-Man™ with all 256 original levels and bugs. Just wait 10 seconds for it to load, or click on the “Insert Coin” button to start. This is Google’s first interactive doodle. The doodle will remain up on Google’s homepage until midnight May 22, 2010.

Pac-Man™ is a registered trademark of NAMCO-BANDAI Games, Inc. Click the image above to go to Google’s homepage and play Pac-Man™ while it’s still up!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Google  has been on a jaunt lately with new Android phones, a new update to the Android smartphone OS, and multiple acquisitions and dealings with multiple hardware partners. And now, today,  comes the coup de gras: Google TV.

Not content with just mobile carriers and your PC/Mac, Google is going after the 4 Billion and counting people who watch TV. And from the looks of things, Google definitely has a game plan. With hardware partners like Sony, Dish Network and Logitech already on board and developing the products to propel GoogleTV into every aspect of our lives with these devices coming this fall. You will even be able to control these GoogleTV devices with Android powered smartphones. Since the platform will be Android based, you can even have Android apps on the devices and, therefore, on-screen on your HDTV. There will also be advanced integration between these Set-Top boxes and HDTVs with DVRs and other devices.

Logitech GoogleTV Companion

To find out more about this new service (and there is more) coming to us from Google, check out the press release below after the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Industry Leaders Announce Open Platform to Bring Web to TV

Google, Intel, Logitech and Sony Join Together to Deliver Google TV Platform

For more information about the project visit google.com/tv.

Well it looks like Electronic Arts and other big publishers are not on the side of gamers, or at least those who like to buy used games.  Ever wanted a game but couldn’t buy it at release because you were already backlogged with multiple games you haven’t even finished yet? Or had had one too many Mai Tais at the bar and then realized you had to wait until you got your next paycheck (blame it on the alcohol) to buy the game but then it was either out of stock or discontinued? Well if you’ve ever been forced to buy a great used game, then do not expect to be able to get online with it with online games going forward.  Nope, looks like many of us are out of luck on this.

Instead, gamers who purchase a copy of THQ’s UFC Undisputed 2010 or an EA game  such as Madden NFL 11 at retail that hadn’t been previously played/purchased will have to enter a one-time use code to be able to play online in death-matches and tournaments. No longer will you be able to play a used online game out of the box. To put money back in their pockets, big-name game publishers are now requiring buyers of used games to pay a fee, ranging from $5 to $10, for a new access code to be able to play these games online. While it makes good business sense, and I do see the logic in this, will gamers who buy used buy into this new paradigm?

The gaming industry is going through many changes now with lower sales, relatively old hardware, more advanced software, new control types and new hardware on the horizon. With the world still in the grip of a global recession, the gaming industry is looking for new ways to stay afloat, even as systems and games sales are lowering little by little. Innovation is key, not just in software but in also in business practices. The task ahead now is to see what say the gamers. Will there be silent monetary protests with used-game gamers not bothering with the purchase of these access codes? Or will they embrace it and burgeon a new standard in game purchasing?

Time will tell and we’ll be watching.

As I’m sure you’ve no doubt read elsewhere online, there was a Nintendo 3DS sighting courtesy of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Well not a final design or final size, but more a testing product showcasing the inner-workings. There is a photo of it below.  The photo shows 2 screens (one 16:9 ration and the other 4:3 ratio), a camera, and other typical features of a typical handheld system such a controller and speakers.

While it was removed from the FCC’s page, and luckily not from many blogs and sites that saw and saved the image, could this be more than just a slip-up? Could this be a teaser from Nintendo themselves? A sort of intentional faux pas intended to get us excited for the coming Electronics Entertainment Expo? Well, color me excited and ready and any other adjective you can throw my way for this machine. Oh and anything else Nintendo and others will be showing at E3 next month. Let’s see what else is out there!

KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE WITH HTC WILDFIRE

Share apps, updates and experiences with the latest social powerhouse from HTC

LONDON – 18 May, 2010, 07.00 CEST – HTC Corporation, a global designer of smartphones, today introduced HTC Wildfire™, a new HTC Sense-based Android phone that integrates the most popular social networks to help bring your friends closer to you. HTC Wildfire closely follows the success of the acclaimed HTC Desire and makes the company’s signature HTC Sense experience accessible to a younger audience.

“Today’s social networks provide an essential forum for friendship with more than 400 million users* – many of whom are young adults – actively sharing their lives with their friends through Facebook,” said Florian Seiche, Vice President, HTC EMEA. “HTC Wildfire makes the HTC Sense experience available to young mobile users for the first time. It brings all your communications into one place, whether it’s through Facebook, Twitter, text messages, images or email, ensuring that you are never far away from the conversation and always close to your friends.”

HTC Wildfire helps you stay connected with those who are most important to you through HTC Sense, a user experience focused on putting people at the centre by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. You won’t miss out on the fun as HTC’s Friend Stream application seamlessly gathers and displays content from social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr into one organised stream of updates. HTC Wildfire enables you to stay up to date with your friends’ posts, comments, alerts and photos, wherever you are.

In addition, each contact viewed in HTC Wildfire’s address book includes a thread of recent communications with that person, including when you last spoke, recent text messages and emails, and social network updates. When your friend calls, HTC Caller ID displays their Facebook profile photo and latest update, as well as a reminder if their birthday is fast approaching.

Availability
The new HTC Wildfire will be broadly available to customers across major European and Asian markets from Q3 2010.

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is coming June 17-19 and is looking to be one of the most unpredictable expos of the year. With Nintendo poised to bring out the 3D successor to the DS, the Nintendo 3DS, and promised games to be shown such as Metroid Other M (Nintendo/Team Ninja), Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision/Treyarch),  and Metal Gear Solid: Rising (Konami/Kojima Productions). But with every E3 that has come and gone, there have been myriad surprises with everything from surprise games out of nowhere to the next generation of game consoles. So what can we expect from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft next month? Let’s take a look and make some possibly wild, but educated guesses.

By Loc Da’Borg

The Many Faces of the Xbox 360

Microsoft is a company of many different divisions, with the biggest division being the Operating System division that made Bill Gates and company their fortune. In fact, it’s what Microsoft is most famous for and what it’s more associated with than anything. But when Bill Gates introduced the Xbox to the world in 2000 at the Game Developers Conference, the game changed and hasn’t been the same since. And boy are we glad for that! Since Microsoft decided to suit up and join the game, it’s pushed both Sony and Nintendo to do better now that a wildcard new guy was on the playing field.

With E3 approaching, Microsoft is at a turning point in the life of the 360. Going on 5 years now (the usual lifecycle of a console), the Xbox 360 is showing no signs of letting up and letting Sony claim the #2 spot willingly. With the likes of Halo: Reach, Gears of War 3, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 and Fable III, Microsoft’s E3 showing is nothing to sneeze at. But at this juncture, it will take more than just software to “win” E3 this time around. With both Sony and Nintendo bringing out new hardware (Sony with the PlayStation Move and Nintendo with the 3DS), Microsoft has to bring it and bring it with aplomb. So what does Microsoft and the Xbox 360 have to contend with Sony and Nintendo? One word: Natal.

Project Natal

At last year’s E3, we learned of a new motion controller than Microsoft had planned to show to the gaming press and, thus, the world and that it would revolutionize game control. This turned out to be no mere hand-held controller but rather a camera (with software) that flagged the body’s movements and translated that into in-game control. While innovative to the degree that Microsoft was aiming for, it was by no means unique as there had been previous such controls but without this level of sophistication. The initial demo featured an interaction between game character Milo and one of the hosts of the pre-E3 press conference. The press was understandably wowed but were slightly reserved in their enthusiasm. The question is not whether this new tech can be used, but how.

Certainly we can see it being used in something like Madden 2011 or Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, but what about other genres? Surely Microsoft is looking to expand the audience with Natal, but I’m sure that hardcore gaming will also be served by this new device. Could we see a fighting game or Kickboxing simulator for martial artists acting sort of like a reverse Holodeck of Star Trek lore? How about an RPG like Final Fantasy playing as Cloud Strife? The trick is imagining the many ways in which Natal could be utilized and, as importantly, how it will be sold to potential gamers, both hardcore and casual.

There is another albeit unlikely possible angle Microsoft can come to with the 360 outside of any new hardware or software. Although unlikely, they could finally address and correct the infamous hardware malfunction known as RROD (Red Ring of Death) that has plagued many a gamer. As unlikely as this is, it would a major win for Microsoft to finally correct this glaring blight on an otherwise awesome gaming system. This is just a wish and there have been no rumors, rumblings, what-have-you about any such fixes, so please don’t quote me on this. It would be awesome though, wouldn’t it?

If Microsoft can truly bring it with Natal, Natal related software and the “regular” software we’ve come to expect, then they just might have a truly tangible shot at winning E3.

This isn’t about who will “win” E3 but more about what surprises may be in store and what we, the consumers, can expect and look forward to. Assimilate the knowledge and hopefully this E3 doesn’t disappoint!