Microsoft’s exclusive Announcement #2: New mobile web browser – Deepfish lol

Boy did MS have us all fooled eh? When second MS announcement wasn’t Xbox related at all. It’s about a new mobile web browser called Deepfish. Here is the announcement http://on10.net/Blogs/larry/exclusive-video-new-mobile-web-browser–deepfish/.

Oh well time for bed lol

PSP Firmware Update 3.30 is live!

Sony has released a firmware update for the PSP today. It is Firmware 3.30. Here is what the update includes:

Support for PLAYSTATION®Network titles has been expanded.
Support for thumbnail images of items has been added under [RSS Channel].
Support for thumbnail images of videos that are stored in the “VIDEO” folder of Memory Stick Duo™ media has been added.
The following types of files can now be played in the “VIDEO” folder.
– MPEG-4/H.264 AVC Main Profile (AVC CABAC) video files of the following sizes:
720 X 480, 352 X 480, or 480 X 272
* Depending on the data type, some files cannot be played.
[Use Wireless Hotspot] has been added as a feature under [Network Settings].

PSP Version Updates (US)
PSP Version Updates (EU)
PSP Version Updates (AU)
PSP Version Updates (JP)

w00t! I love firmware updates. I will download this tonight

Reminder: Exclusive Microsoft Announcement #2 Coming Tonight!

I just want to remind you all that the second and final exclusive Microsoft announcement will be tonight at the following times:

12:00AM EST
11:00PM CST
9:00PM PST

So stayed tuned to Next-Gen Gamer for up to the minute updates on the Microsoft Announcement #2

Team Ninja’s mystery DS project revealed: Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword!

Via IGN DS:

While Team Ninja’s dabbling in DS development has been known since the system’s launch over two years ago, we’ve at last learned the true identity of the mystery project. The latest issue of Famitsu reports that the DS will be getting an original installment in the Ninja Gaiden series. That’s right, Ninja Gaiden is back on Nintendo!

Fully titled Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, the Team Ninja-developed title is a 3D action game that makes full use of the DS’s most standout feature: the stylus. The entire game can be controlled almost entirely with the touch-based motions. You guide Ryu Hayabusa about the play field by tapping in the direction you’d like to go. Slashing the touch pen from down to up makes Hayabusa launch an enemy into the air, into a perfect position for combos. You make Hayabusa jump by tapping the screen twice, and can then point to enemies to shoot shurikens at them and perform a downward thrust attack. Even your ninja arts make use of the stylus, requiring that you draw shapes in order to perform the special attacks. Buttons are used only for defensive moves.

If an all touch-based Ninja Gaiden wasn’t a big enough surprise, Ninja Gaiden DS has one additional peculiarity. The game is meant to be played by holding the DS with both screens lined up horizontally. This has presumably been done to give a tall view of the action on the touch screen, as the left screen is used to display maps.

To read the rest of the article visit: Ninja Gaiden Coming to DS.

Very nice. I have been waiting for a game to make me start playing my DS again. It looks like Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword will do just that.

Ninja Gaiden Demo Coming to the PSN

Courtesy of IGN PS3:

Tecmo’s PS3 update to the original Ninja Gaiden isn’t due out in America and Japan until June, but those wanting a sneak peak will have to wait less than a month. In the latest issue of Japan’s Famitsu Weekly, Ninja Gaiden Sigma director Yosuke Hayashi revealed plans to make a playable demo of the game available on the PlayStation Network starting 4/27. The demo will include one specially created chapter that won’t be in the final version and will allow players to use a large number of weapons from the start.

The big question is, of course, will owners of PS3s outside of Japan be able to get quick access to the demo through the US and European PlayStation Stores? While Tecmo hasn’t made an official announcement, Hayashi did reveal that the demo will include an online score rank mode that will allow players from throughout the world show off their ninja skills. Sounds like PS3 owners everywhere have something to look forward to late next month.

Source: Ninja Gaiden Demo Coming to PSN

Man this is awesome news! I am very excited for this game and can’t wait to try the demo!

Jetpac Refuelled now on the Xbox Live Marketplace

From Majornelson.com:

Name: Jetpac Refuelled
Price: 400 Points
Availability: All Xbox Live regions
Dash Details: Purchase the full version of Rare’s Jetpac Refuelled to access a wide spectrum of game features. Open up a vast array of levels, engage in battle over Xbox Live, post to the Leaderboards and play for new Achievements. Runs at 60hz in full-screen high definition. The original 1983 classic is also included. Provides at least 500% of your recommended daily intake of laser-based alien extinction.
Size: 21.1 MB (approx.)

Source: Arcade:Jetpac Refuelled

XBL In Game Content for Battlestations: Midway

From Majornelson.com:

Name: Iowa Mission Pack
Price: 400 Points
Availability: Not Available in Japan
Dash Details: The Iowa Mission Pack for Battlestations: Midway includes a massive new multiplayer map ‘Battle of the Sibuyan Sea’ a new single player challenge mission ‘Raid On Truk’, and 5 exclusive new units – the legendary USS Iowa battleship, P-38 Lightning (Allied) and Gekko (Japanese) fighters, the IJN Shimakaze Destroyer as well as a totally new unit type – the Japanese mini-sub. The huge new multiplayer map will see one of the most wanted match-ups in naval history as legendary heavyweight battleships Iowa and Yamato meet in battle for the very first time!
Size: 170.0 MB (approx.)

Source: In Game Content: Battlestations: Midway

Wistron to Stop Manufacturing Xbox 360s

From GameDaily.biz:

Yesterday a report appeared in DigiTimes.com, which cited a Chinese newspaper, Economic Daily News, that indicated Wistron, one of the producers of Microsoft’s Xbox 360, would stop making the console in 2008 “partly due to declining profits on production of the consoles and partly on market reports stating that Microsoft has added Celistica [sic] to the list of its suppliers.”

Today, GameDaily BIZ can confirm that Wistron is indeed going to stop making Xbox 360s, and it’s going to happen even sooner than the DigiTimes report suggested.

A Microsoft spokesperson told us, “Our contract with Wistron will voluntarily expire on July 1, 2007 and we will transfer all of our production volumes from Wistron to our other two manufacturing facilities, Celestica and Flextronics.”

Microsoft downplayed any notion that the move has anything to do with its relationship with the manufacturer. “These types of adjustments are considered a common business practice within the consumer electronics industry and should not reflect on the relationship between Microsoft and Wistron,” the spokesperson said, adding, “Also, this does not affect our guidance which still implies we expect to sell about 12 million Xbox 360 consoles by end of June 2007.”

To read the rest of the article click here.

More Partners Coming to Xbox Live Marketplace

From the Gamerscore.com Blog

e also just announced new partners bringing more premium content to the Xbox 360 in the U.S. A&E Network, ADV Films, National Geographic and TotalVid.com signed on, and Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment are going to offer new high-definition content.

Available titles will include “Braveheart,” “Team America: World Police,” and “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.”

Also, for the first time, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will be releasing its direct-to-video movies exclusively in high definition on Xbox LIVE simultaneous with their availability on DVD, starting with “Sublime” and later “Babylon 5: The Lost Tales.”

Some of the television shows and feature films that will be coming to Xbox LIVE include:

* A&E Network. “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” “King of Cars,” “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” “Driving Force” and “Criss Angel Mindfreak”
* ADV Films. Top offerings from the No. 1 producer-distributor of Japanese animation (“anime”) outside Japan
* National Geographic. The television series “Is It Real?” and “Taboo” as well as programs such as “21 Days to Baghdad” and “Air Force One”
* TotalVid.com. A broad action-sports offering including extreme skiing and snowboarding, skateboarding, motocross, surfing and mountain biking.

For more details check out the press release.