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DS Lite BlackAn entire shipment of black Nintendo DS Lite units was stolen on the way to the exclusive European release.  The shipment was stolen in Hong Kong and is valued at 2.32 Million dollars.  Officials believe that the units are currently being sold on the black market, and are offering a $128,831 USD reward for information about the heist.  If the missing units were valued at US retail price that would amount to roughly 17,829 missing DS Lite units.  At this point it is unclear what effect this will have on the European launch which is set for June 23rd.

Read More | Play Gadgets

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Brain AgeVideo games sales for the month of May fell 10.2%, according to market research group NPD. (Data for May does not include PC game sales.) Nintendo held the top spot in sales with “New Super Mario Bros.” as well as the third spot with its “Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day” title.  Square Enix’s “Kingdom Hearts II” held the second spot. The lag in video game sales is seen as a temporary blimp largely attributed to the fact that consumers are awaiting the debut of new gaming consoles in the fall. In related news, Nintendo has sold a reported 136,000 units of the new DS Lite system in the United States on Sunday and Monday, virtually matching the pace of the original DS unit.

Top Five Game Sales for May

  1. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
  2. Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix)
  3. Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (Nintendo)
  4. God of War (Sony)
  5. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Take-Two / Bethesda)

Read More | Washington Post

Mario Hoops 3 Screenshot

Siliconera has a great article up explaining how the controls will work in the upcoming Nintendo DS title Mario Hoops 3 on 3.  Although I am excited about this game, I hadn’t given much thought to the control scheme it will use.  Mario Hoops 3 on 3 uses the touchpad for dribbling, shooting, and stealing the ball as well as performing character specific special shots.  Hopefully Nintendo has implemented this innovative control scheme in a user-friendly manner, as it is unclear what functions will be assigned to the other buttons.  I can only hope Mario Hoops 3 on 3 will be as good as my favorite 3 on 3 classic Tiny Toon Adventures: Acme All-Stars for the Sega Genesis.


Read More | Siliconera


DescriptionNintendoGossip is reporting on an image found in some promotional E3 materials that shows the Wii with its “Secret Slot” open (i.e., the flap beneath the blue-lit drive). The image looks a bit iffy - the plastic shown under the secret slot doesn’t appear to match very well with the rest of the console, which is very odd for a company that has placed so much emphasis on design recently. Still, it’s interesting to speculate on what can be seen - there’s a fairly obvious port for memory cards, but also a round port or lens located towards the top of the secret slot. NintendoGossip and Kotaku are suggesting that perhaps this could be the rumored Wii-camera that allows you to “put your face in the game” as Miyamoto suggested.

We’ll file this one firmly in the “rumors that probably won’t come true but would be nice if they did” bin for now. Hopefully after their competitors announce their final specs Nintendo can finally give away the last of the secrets they’ve been keeping on the Wii.


Read More | NintendoGossip.com via Kotaku.com


DS Lite wrist strapOne of Nintendo DS Lite owner’s biggest complaints has been that the DS Lite does not come with a wrist strap like the original DS did.  The strap was not only useful for quickly grabbing your DS or toting it around, but for writing on the touchscreen as well.  The end of the wrist strap had a small stylus that is perfect for the sliding requirements of many mini games and a convenient way to keep your touchscreen fingerprint free.  Fear not wrist strap lovers, Nintendo sells the strap in the replacement section of their website.  A replacement wrist strap is $3.95 with $2 for shipping.  While it would be great to have it included in the original package, $6 is not too much to get the wrist strap/stylus fix you need.  You can also pick up a replacement battery for $15 or a original rumble pack for $9.99.


Read More | Nintendo Store


Among the multitude of news bits about the upcoming Nintendo Wii, gamers can’t stop talking about the launch titles that will go along with this console. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess offers fans a new spin on the traditional Zelda series, but leaves many wondering whether the game will work with the Wii’s newfangled controllers or format? Fortunately, the consensus is that long time fans and newbies alike will not be disappointed by this upcoming installment in the Zelda series.

Click to continue reading A Look At The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess For Wii


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For those of you who couldn’t make it to the Nintendo World Store last night for the midnight release of the Nintendo DS Lite, there is still hope for scoring a free copy of Brain Age.  Both Best Buy and Circuit City have coupons for a free copy of Brain Age with the purchase of a Nintendo DS Lite.  I just returned from my local Best Buy and was able to score a DS Lite along with a complimentary copy of Brain Age.  Good luck deal hunting! 

Best Buy Coupon PDF
Circuit City

Read More | Nintendo


Coming soon to DS download stations near you is the second helping of Nintendo DS demos.  The list includes two movies and six playable demos and should be available shortly.  Nintendo DS Download stations are available in Gamestop, EB Games, Best Buy and other gaming locations.  You can keep the demo until your Nintendo DS is powered off.

Playable Demos:
Big Brain Academy
Metroid Prime: Hunters
Magnetica
Brain Age
Tetris - Push
Tetris - Standard

Movies:
X-Men 3: The Official Movie Game
Over The Hedge


Read More | Go Nintendo


falling sales chartAfter promising sales in April the video game industry was brought back to reality in May.  Console software sales are 10% lower than May 2005.  The drop has alarmed many analysts even though overall sales, hardware and software combined, show a rise from last May.  One major reason for the decreased sales is that the video game industry is in a transition to next generation consoles.  This transition has gamers waiting to purchase next-gen titles, couple this with only 2 new Xbox 360 games in May and lackluster sales are more easily explained.

Michael Pachter, an analyst from Wedbush Morgan Securities, summed up the situation, saying “We think that this trend foreshadows continuing weak sales until the holidays, as we expect continued monthly year-over-year declines of 30 - 40% for current generation software sales, with next generation software sales growth failing to offset these declines. We do not expect next generation software sales to offset the decline in current generation software sales until the fall, when a strong lineup of Xbox 360 games is anticipated and launches of the PS3 and Wii are scheduled.”

My own predictions call for decreased Xbox 360 software sales over the next months with increased Nintendo DS hardware and software sales due to the release of the Nintendo DS Lite.  I am curious if Xbox Live Marketplace content is counted into the overall software sales for the Xbox 360 since there are currently more releases on the Marketplace than in retail stores.


Read More | Game Daily


Meijer is having a sale on video games this weekend.  Their entire selection of video games is buy one get one 50% off on Saturday from 6 AM to Midnight.  Meijer is located in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky (store locator).  They have a good selection of video games for Xbox, Xbox 360, PSP, PS2, Gamecube, GBA, and DS.  In the past I have had luck getting Best Buy to price match Meijer, in case you do not have a Meijer nearby.  This would be an excellent sale to stop by for anyone picking up a Nintendo DS on Sunday.


Read More | Meijer (PDF link)


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