Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It’s free!
Microsoft Xbox Team Working On Portable Gaming Device?
Posted by Jesse Easley Categories: Portable/Mobile, Rumors, Xbox, Xbox 360,
It seems that Microsoft does have a portable gaming device in the works, and it isn’t the Origami. that’s not the Origami. As rumored, the device will play movies, games, and music - sounds like a PSP-killer to us. Mercury News says that, “Game executive J Allard leads the project, and its director is Greg Gibson, who was the system designer on the Xbox 360 video game console. Bryan Lee, the finance chief on the Xbox business, is leading the business side of the project.” No other details have really been released, but don’t expect to see it until mid-2007.
Read More 
| Mercury News
Advertisement
DS Lite Coming to America
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile, Release Dates,
Good news for everyone who has fallen in love with Nintendo’s recently revealed DS Lite. According to IGN, the portable machine will be coming out here after it release this spring in Japan. It’s unfortunate that we’re going to have to wait longer to get it, but we’re still glad it’s coming out here. Of course there’s always the option of importing.
Read More | IGN
Microsoft to Enter Portable Gaming Market?
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Portable/Mobile, Rumors,
Business Week writes that Microsoft is looking at getting into making a portable entertainment device. Apple’s exploded in recent years thanks to its iPod, and Microsoft’s noticed. However, the Seattle giant is thinking broader than simply creating a music-playing device. Naturally, we’d expect for such a machine to be similar to Sony’s PlayStation Portable. If Microsoft decides to release a portable machine, it should be able to play games, music, and videos. It’d also be nice if the device has other features including a calendar, organizer, and hard drive. Heck, Microsoft could clean up if it released a device with such offerings - it would just have to work on selling the thing at an ideal price. Oh, and it’d have to make sure enough units are available at launch.
Read More | Business Week
Latest Gear Live Videos
Nintendo DS Lite Revealed
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile,
Just two weeks after Nintendo quelled reports of a rumored redesign, they go and announce the updated version of the Nintendo DS - that being the Nintendo DS Lite. Feast your eyes on the smaller, lighter, Apple-er Nintendo DS. Now, like the upgrade from the Game Boy Advance to the GBA:SP, the Nintendo DS Lite is pretty much the same machine, just tweaked out with a few improvements. For starters, it has a smaller footprint than the original DS, and is lighter. The new unit is just 133.0 x 73.9 x 21.55 mm when folded and weighs 218 grams, while the current DS measures 148.7 x 84.7 x 28.99 mm and weighs 275 grams. You will also notice that the Start and Select buttons have moved, as have the microphone and speakers.
While the LCD screens remain the same size, they are now brighter. You can even adjust the brightness between four different settings. Now, this one is currently announced for release in Japan on March 9, 2006 at a price of 16,800 yen ($145), which includes AC adapter. That is about $15 more than the current Nintendo DS sells for in Japan. No word yet on when - or if - this one will see an American release. We will definitely be keeping our eye on this one.
Read More | Nintendo Press Release (Japanese)
Federal Trade Comission Approves EA-Jamdat Merger
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Corporate News, Portable/Mobile,
Near the end of 2005, Electronic Arts announced it would purchase Jamdat, a huge cell phone game publisher, for the grand sum of $680 million. The U.S. government’s FTC recently approved the deal, so full steam ahead! There wasn’t really any doubt that the deal wouldn’t go through but now we’re one step closer to the deal being completed. We’re looking forward to seeing if EA strikes it big with Jamdat under its wings.
Read More | Next Generation
GameDR ScreenMax Plays PSP On Your Television
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Accessories, Portable/Mobile, PSP,
For Sony PSP fans frustrated by the inability to connect their extra-small dream machines to larger viewing screens, Digital Innovations is set to release the GameDR Excelerator Series ScreenMax for PSP Video Transmission System. The ScreenMax is a product that makes it possible to play PSP games and movies on any TV or computer monitor. You can pick this one up for $69.99 USD. We will be going hands on with this one very soon.
This commercial really doesn’t need much explination. It’s a humorous commercial for the Game Boy Micro that’s only been shown in Canada, and won’t be shown in the United States any time soon. Wonder why not? Check out the video to find out why.
Read More | Google Video
December’s Upcoming Game Releases
Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, Portable/Mobile, PSP, Release Dates, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Looking for some new games to spend your hard-earned money on? Well you’re in luck! What follows is a list of games that will be hitting retail shops between now and the end of 2005.
This Week:
Final Fantasy IV Advanced - GBA
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku I & II - GBA
Chaos Field - GCN
Gauntlet Seven Sorrows - Xbox/PS2
Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play - PSP
Next Week:
Pocket Dogs - GBA
Samurai Showdown V - Xbox
Dead or Alive 4 - Xbox 360
Aside from Dead or Alive 4, it looks like there isn’t anything too excited due out for the rest of the year. Furthermore, will Dead or Alive 4 even come out this year? It’s slated to ship on December 21st, but it wouldn’t be that surprising if it were delayed again.
Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play could turn out to be a keeper, but we’ll hold judgment on it for now. And finally what the heck is Pocket Dogs? Dare it be a Nintendogs rip-off?
John Tokash has found something very peculiar about his newly acquired (and disassembled) Game Boy Micro - a jack accessible to the faceplate that is marked “V-5” on the circuit board. Could Nintendo be planning on releasing some sort of faceplates that draw power from the Micro’s battery? Not likely, as it doesn’t seem that the port is powered - so why is it there?
Read More | John Tokash’s Weblog via Make
See, now this just rocks. Being that Nintendo has been using backlit screens since the DS launched, even including one in the Game Boy Micro, they finally decided to do away with the front lit TFTs in the GBA:SP. Although the company hasn’t hyped it - probably because they don’t want to stifle Micro sales - the GBA:SP now ships with a much improved backlit screen that to me looks even better than the screen on the Micro. Just take a look at the comparison picture above from IGN. The new screen certainly looks worlds better than the older one - and you can actually see what’s going on without squinting your eyes out, unlike the Micro. The best part of all this is that the GBA:SP still sells for the same price.
Read More | IGN
Advertisement
© Gear Live Inc. {year} – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.