More Than 120 Games in Development Worldwide for Nintendo's New Game Platform

July 28, 2004 - In preparation for the launch of Nintendo DS(TM) in North America and Japan later this year and Europe in Q1 2005, Nintendo today announces major global developments for the innovative dual-screen, wireless, hand-held video game system.

Nintendo DS, originally chosen as the code name, has been selected as the official product name. The Nintendo DS name evokes the idea of a portable system with "dual screens," providing the rationale for the final name. The hardware also has been redesigned to sport a slimmer, sharper look. The retooled Nintendo DS features a thinner, black base and an angular platinum flip-top cover. The face buttons and shoulder buttons are larger, and some have been reconfigured for optimum use. The unit includes a new storage slot for the touch screen's stylus, and the speakers now broadcast in stereo sound, with or without headphones.

"The Nintendo DS will change the future of hand-held gaming," says Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. "Dual screens, chat functions, a touch screen, wireless capabilities, voice recognition - these abilities surpass anything attempted before, and consumers will benefit from the creativity and innovation the new features bring to the world of video games."

Software companies worldwide have more than 120 Nintendo DS games in development. Nintendo alone is developing more than 20 titles, and in excess of 100 companies have signed on to create games for the new system.

Nintendo will announce the launch date, price and game lineup for Nintendo DS at a later date.

ARTICLE TAKEN FROM GAMEINDUSTRY.BIZ

Publisher Zoo Digital is set to publish a GBA version of late Amiga title Payback in Europe this autumn - bringing the GTA-style free roaming gameplay of the title to the handheld, and quite possibly beating Rockstar's own GBA version in the process.

Developed by Apex Designs, Payback borrowed much of its structure from DMA Design's (now Rockstar North) first two Grand Theft Auto games, which offered a top down view of the city, but added a number of technical and gameplay innovations.

The game promises ten free-roaming city environments, the ability to hijack vehicles ranging from a full range of road vehicles to remote controlled cars and helicopters, and a wide variety of different missions - including a "Rampage" mode which generates new missions on the fly, which should improve the longevity of the game.

The game will stretch the GBA's abilities to quite a degree - although it retains the top-down view which will be familiar to players of the early GTA titles, it also includes a full 3D engine with lighting effects and a day/night cycle for the cities, and it scores one up on the modern incarnations of the Grand Theft Auto series by including four-player link-up modes.

While all of this might seem like quite wholesale borrowing from Rockstar's franchise, apparently neither Rockstar/DMA nor parent company Take Two raised any objection to the original release of the title on the Amiga in 2001.

1. WinF2A updated.

2. Support two more F2A Ultra cartridge types: 64M and 128M.

3. Add preset cartridge size before the program actually connects to GBA. Default preset cartridge size is 256M, and the value can be changed automatically after GBA connection, or manually through config operation.

Click here to download

Yeah we're slowly warming up to receive the new toy from our favourite videogame manufacturer here at 64scener, and here's a bit of news while we wait.

Rumors from Japan tells us that the japanese stores have started advertising with a launch date of 4th November, the Americans should have their DS by 11th November then. The price is 19.000 Yen which is somewhere around $165.

But we'll just have to wait and see, I do know that I'm looking forward to seeing Mario 64 on a handheld!

Chertsey UK, July 15, 2004 - Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS) today announced that The UrbzTM: Sims in the CityTM, the latest franchise from the celebrated studio behind The SimsTM, is in development for the Nintendo DS.

EA, in conjunction with Griptonite Games, is developing the game in Redwood City, CA and is scheduled for release in November 2004 under the EA GAMESTM brand.

The UrbzTM: Sims in the City TM will benefit from the unique Nintendo DS capabilities by offering players a wireless multi-player mode, touch-screen input a multitude of in-game features that are not available in any other version of the game. Exclusive features for the Nintendo DS version include 24 objects, a unique touch-screen menu system, 5 minigames, 7 characters and 8 pet species that players can create with the special in-game 'gene manipulator'.

These aren't your typical Sims. These are the Urbz - and they have a completely new look, attitude and outlook on life. Sims are living in the city and it's all about building, and improving, their reputation. For the first time, players will not only be able to create their own Sim, but in addition will also have the opportunity to create their own pet. Daddy Bigbucks is trying to take over the city of Miniopolis and keep Splicer Island a secret. It is up to you to uncover the truth by training your pet, increasing your reputation and keeping your crew on Splicer Island happy.

"We're thrilled that this new franchise is the first from Electronic Arts to illustrate the power of the Nintendo DS," said Sinjin Bain, Vice President and Executive Producer. "On the Nintendo DS, we are able to do things with The UrbzTM: Sims in the City TM that we could not do with any other console. Like the system itself, this game is completely unique. Never before have Sims players been able to unleash their alter egos in an urban environment - complete with the sounds, scenes and settings of the city."

Pogoshell is a nifty themable ROM menu GUI for Game Boy Advance carts, with automatic savegame management, built in text reader, and other advanced features. It supports plugins for NES, PCE, BMP, MIDI, MOD, and WAV to name just a few!

Focus for this release has been making it stable on the XRom 512Mbit carts. Main Changes:

• Large (over 256Mbit) cart support - only tested for XRom 512Mbit
• Fixed whitescreen bug
• Various bugfixes and cleanup

Download: http://www.obsession.se/pocket/

PSO Bootloader is a program which allows you to execute homebrew code on your Gamecube, when used in conjunction with Datel's Action Replay. This method is a lot faster than the traditional way which involves continually loading Phantasy Star Online (PSO). A Gamecube broadband adaptor and PSO game disc are required in order to install PSO Bootloader (onto your memorycard) from your PC. Thereafter the PSO game disc becomes redundant from the process!

"Added support for "Pro Action Replay V1.0" (the Japanese version) and V1.12. Many thanks to Kenobi for finding the codes. These new versions are not tested, so please post any feedback!"

Yes, yet another GBA copier has been released. The USB cable looks pretty much identical to the F2A Linker cable. The G6 Flash is sold in two colors, red and blue.

Here's some specs from the mail I received today.

a.. The only 2G super high-capacity flash card in the world. The =
smallest size with capacity varies from 256M to 2G.

b.. Automatic Super Memory Stick (ASMS) let you backup / restore =
game to / from flash memory fully automatically.

c.. Real Time Clock (RTC) perfect for Pocket series / My sun =
series games.

d.. Automatic Hardware Saver detect and simulate all kinds of =
save type by hardware. No patch / No software upgrade. Support all kinds =
of save type (4kEE / 64kEE / Flash512K / Flask1024K / SRAM).

e.. International Patch System (IPS) is the most popular and =
powerful cheat code in the world. It lets you enhance your original file =
to a completely new one.

f.. High Speed Linker (USB 2.0) is the fastest speed linker in =
the world. It write 32M bits of data in 33 seconds.

g.. ASIC Architecture provides low power consumption and more =
stable.

h.. User Friendly Interface

i.. Secret Code Function Support

j.. Real Speed Playing makes no speed patch.

k.. Support Other Tools such as PDA / Dictionary / Music NES ...

l.. And More...

I hope that 64scener is able to bring you a review of the unit soon... for more info about the 6G Flash, I suggest that you visit their website at www.g6flash.com

"A small utility to convert 64x64 pixel PNG files into an Emblem useable for F-Zero. The emblem needs to be 64x64 pixel. The outer border needs to be transparent because that will be repeated. Also sets a simple scaled version of the emblem as icon. Have fun."

I have compiled for win32. Send emblem files to your memcard using ctr-gcs (supports only original nintendo 59 block memcards at time of writing). For those who dont know, F-Zero GX emblems are little pictures you can use to skin your ship.  =]

*WORKING version*   =]

A month where 64scener will see a nice expansion of the site, making it way more useful for copier owners of N64, GB/C and GBA.

Thanks to a nice web space donation by Success Compu, we're now able to host large archives of copier tools and homebrewn demos and games, something our current host isn't too happy about.

For a sneak peak of what things will look like soon, click here