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Wii Supply Problems May Not Be Fixed This Year
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, Nintendo, Wii,
Despite being much harder to find throughout the year in retail outlets than the competitor’s next-gen console hardware, Nintendo‘s Wii may not see much improvement in availability until sometime in 2008. Nintendo originally planned to expand their production in June but were forced to delay their expansion plans due to tight supply of certain components coming from Taiwan-based suppliers.
Wii units are certainly far more available than they were shortly after launch but that may be related to the comparatively lighter demand; with the 2007 holiday season fast approaching and key titles like Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl expected before Christmas, this could mean another tough Christmas on shoppers with Wii systems high on their lists.
Still, Nintendo has not backed down on projections made in April of this year and in a statement to GameSpot said, “Nintendo has no revisions to announce to its most recent shipment forecasts at this time.” They originally predicted that they would sell 14 million Wiis this fiscal year.
Read More 
| DigiTimes via GameSpot
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Xbox 360 Premium Hardware Gets HDMI Upgrade
Posted by Max Dickey Categories: Hardware, Hot Deals, Microsoft, Xbox 360,
Along with today’s universal price cut on Xbox 360 consoles, Microsoft has added another nice little treat to the mix: a shiny HDMI port on all new premium systems. For many gamers, the promise of 1080p support made the Xbox 360 Elite a very tempting option for awhile, but now you don’t need to break the bank if you’re looking for the best video but don’t need an extra 100GB of hard disk space. These units should be showing up at retailers any day now, so keep your eyes peeled if you’re looking to grab a cheap(er) 360 with the best video you can possibly get…a bargain at $349.99. Systems with HDMI will now sport a nifty HDMI logo right on the box, so you shouldn’t have to tear open 10 boxes to find yourself one. No word yet on whether Microsoft has also been generous enough to include an HDMI cable with the new systems, but we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we have more info.
Read More | GamePro
Brain Age 2 Nintendo DS Bundle Announced
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Nintendo DS,
If you don’t have a DS yet, this Brain Age bundle might be just what you’re looking for – included is a copy of Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day and a DS sports an all-new color for $149.99. As Nintendo describes the new color: “The top half of the new Nintendo DS sports a smooth, glossy Crimson, reminiscent of a dangerous shade of lipstick or a cherry-red sports car. The bottom is a matte black—an Onyx yin that complements the Crimson yang.” Uhh, okay.
Brain Age 2 includes 15 new activities, including those that challenge you with math, memorization, and music. (Music? Might want to plug in a pair of headphones to avoid hearing those poor DS speakers.)
The bundle will be available in stores on August 21.
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Xbox 360 Price Drop Now Official; Pricing On Halo 3 Xbox 360 Announced
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, Microsoft, Special Editions, Xbox 360,
As we reported last week the Xbox 360 will be seeing a price drop for each of its three SKUs. The Core model will drop $20 from $299.99 to $279.99, the Premium will drop $50 from $399.99 to $349.99, and the Elite will drop $30 from $479.99 to $449.99. I stand by my statement that this price drop makes little to no sense, because the cost of a Core system plus a 512MB memory card is only $20 less than the Premium now costs.
In related news, the Halo 3 edition Xbox 360’s pricing has finally been revealed to be $399.99. Keep in mind it has a 20GB hard drive, which is what comes with the Premium SKU. The Elite has a 120GB hard drive, which can also be purchased a standalone drive for the steep price of $179.99.
Bear in mind, these price drops don’t go into effect until tomorrow, Wednesday, August 8, and only in the US.
Rumor: Xbox 360 Core Systems Getting Pushed Off Best Buy Shelves
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, Microsoft, Rumors, Xbox 360,
According to the above, albeit low-quality image sent in to Game | Life, it looks as if Best Buy is ordering that the existing Xbox 360 Core systems be sold off so that its shelf space can be eliminated. Microsoft has yet to comment, but has persistently claimed the Core is an important Xbox 360 SKU. But it looks like Best Buy disagrees, and understandably so – from a retail perspective, it makes much more sense to stock the Premium and Elite SKUs, which have been much more successful thus far.
E3 2007: New Xbox 360 Hardware And Accessory Details [UPDATE]
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Accessories, E3, Hardware, Microsoft, Release Dates, Special Editions, Xbox 360,
As we unveiled on Tuesday, we finally know the price point and release date for the Xbox 360 chatpad. At Microsoft’s press conference we saw Peter Moore hold up a new Xbox 360 model – a Halo 3 special edition 360. The console itself will have a green and gold paintjob with a matching wireless controller, a 20GB hard drive, headset, Play & Charge kit, and exclusive Halo 3 gamer pics and theme. The system will be available in September.
Another hardware tidbit was that in October we’ll see several new colors of wireless controllers – pink, dark blue, and light blue – making for a total of five different controller colors. Check after the break for a look at the new controller colors.
Update: Game | Life has some details on the special Halo 3 edition Xbox 360 - specifically, the headset included will be wireless and the system itself will have an HDMI port. And to clarify, the system won’t come with a copy of Halo 3.
Click to continue reading E3 2007: New Xbox 360 Hardware And Accessory Details [UPDATE]
E3 2007: The Big Three: Who “Won” E3?
Posted by Edie Sellers Categories: Casual, Corporate News, E3, Editorial, Hardware, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360,
It always seems a bit silly to declare a “winner” of E3. It’s just so juvenile. This is a complex industry that can’t be distilled down to the simple question of “who beat whom.”
But we just can’t help it, can we?
Comparing the three keynotes this year, however, really is a grab-bag of possible outcomes. All three offered something interesting, and picking a single “winner” this year more than ever depends how you define “winning.”
My rundown is after the break.
Click to continue reading E3 2007: The Big Three: Who “Won” E3?
E3 2007: Sony’s Press Conference Recap And Impressions
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Action, Activision, Adventure, CAPCOM, Corporate News, Driving, E3, Electronic Arts, First Person Shooters, Hardware, Internet, LucasArts, MMORPG, Mods/Hacks, Music, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Release Dates, Role Playing Games, SEGA, Sony, Special Editions, Sports, Trailers, Ubisoft,
I’m going to come right out and say it: I’m coming away from Sony’s presentation more impressed than I was either Nintendo’s or Microsoft’s. They were very straightforward and showed exactly what we all wanted to see: the games.
In fact, this was one of the more impressive E3 press conferences in recent memory – check inside to find out why.
Click to continue reading E3 2007: Sony’s Press Conference Recap And Impressions
E3 2007: Microsoft’s Press Conference Recap And Impressions
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Accessories, Action, Activision, Adventure, Bungie, CAPCOM, Casual, Corporate News, Driving, E3, Electronic Arts, First Person Shooters, Hardware, Microsoft, Party Games, PC, Puzzle, Release Dates, Retro, Role Playing Games, SEGA, Simulation, Special Editions, Sports, Strategy, Survival Horror, Take2, Third Person Shooters, Trailers, Ubisoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend E3 this year – instead, I’m on vacation in Cape Cod, using awful hotel Wi-Fi to watch streamed press conferences. Not the most glamorous way to take it all in, but exciting announcements, great games and new details are welcome no matter how you hear about them.
Here’s my personal transcription (in very brief form) of all the announcements and showings, along with some reflection on what Microsoft had to show.
Click to continue reading E3 2007: Microsoft’s Press Conference Recap And Impressions
Xbox 360 Sees New HD-DVD Player Update
Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Accessories, Hardware, Internet, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
Owners of the Xbox 360’s HD-DVD add-on will be the recipients of a new auto-update next time they try watching a movie while connected to Xbox Live. The new additions (tweaks, really) are minor, but the more improvements, the better. Those without access to Xbox Live will be able to download the update from Xbox.com later this week.
The list of improvements:
- Added option for user to select from the following audio output formats via TOSLINK or HDMI: -Digital Stereo (2 channel PCM) -Dolby Digital 5.1 -DTS 5.1 -WMA Pro
- Added “Dynamic Range Control” toggle for digital audio output
- Improved HD DVD networking support
- Improved HD DVD title compatibility
- Improved performance with MPEG-4 AVC / H.264
- 1080p via HDMI is supported on the Xbox 360 Elite with HDCP compliant displays
- Improved parental controls
Read More | Major Nelson
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