Announcing New Club Nintendo Goodies!

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Due Before Feb. 1

Our nation's youth will be corrupted on the go, Grand Theft Auto-style, as early as November of this year and as late as January of 2009, according to today's Take-Two Interactive investor call. CEO Ben Feder pegged Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for the Nintendo DS as a fiscal Q1 '09 release, putting it in the same quarter as GTA IV's Japanese launch date.

Feder wouldn't confirm that the title would hit before the holidays, despite requests from callers to clarify.

If rumors are right, Chinatown Wars will hit in the same three month window — November 1 to January 31 — as GTA IV's Xbox 360 exclusive downloadable episodes. If that GTA three-way does happen, it could make for a very happy group of shareholders. And a lot of virtual bystander corpses.

First Album Recorded Using DS KORG Emulator Released

..and by 'Released' we mean 'put up on a website in a Zip file'. Say what you like about the democratizing power of the internet - it does rather suck the glamour out of album launches.

Anyway, what we have here is a cracking little collection of musical experiments created using the KORG DS-10 emulator for the Nintendo DS, for a competition at MP3Death.us/diplodocus.

I listened to all twelve tracks on the way home tonight and it is mainly what you would expect - squirly, twiddly synth sounds and squelchy beats. Some tracks have quite an 8-bit soundtrack feel — Aliceffek's 'Toneworks' is great fun and would not sound out of place on a Commodore 64 platformer — while the brilliant 'DSTennis' by A Rival is reminiscent of Hexstatic's 'Bass Invader.'

Finally, Dog Whispering Coming To DS

In another case of "Only Ubisoft", the Nintendo DS is about to get another dog interaction "game", this time in the form of Cesar Millan's Dog Whisperer. The video game adaptation of the National Geographic Channel television show was rated by the ESRB not too long ago, but we need box art to let this sort of news sink in. There's a PC version planned as well.

We're expecting a Nintendogs for at-risk canines, something that we hope will result in a literal underdog triumphing over adversity; not pissing on the good rug, for example, but in-game. We also expect lots of microphone directed whispering. If you're coming in from the front page, click through for full sized box art reality, perfect for bewildered eye-rubbing.

We knew it was coming, but didn't have the high resolution JPEGs to prove that the Nintendo DS was going to look this sharp in "metallic silver." Due to land officially at retail on September 7 in The America at $129.99, the new DS colorway "makes a nice addition to any tech collection, whether you're a gadget hipster or fashionista." Your choice: gadget hipster or fashionista.

The new color update is said to be featured in new print ads featuring actress Liv Tyler, whose been doing bubbly Brain Age 2 commercials for the company recently.

Next Tony Hawk Game Adds Snowboarding, DS Motion Control

Activision has officially announced Tony Hawk's next outing, this time for the Nintendo DS. Tony Hawk's Motion will be, as you might have guessed from the title, is a motion controlled affair. What you might not have guessed was that snowboarding events would be added to the series starting now.

Pro snowboarder Todd Richards will play second fiddle to Hawk in the handheld game, with the back up sport adding "more than 20 diverse mini-challenges" to the game. We're mini-excited.

Tony Hawk's Motion takes advantage of the Motion Pack, according to the fact sheet distributed today, which casually mentions it as if we know what the hell that is. It does remind us of this ancient rumor, though. And this one. Perhaps current gen console are getting their own taste of Tony Hawk's Motion soon.

Nintendo: "We'll Be Printing More Money Than Originally Planned"

Nintendo wants to give you a quick update on how awesome it's doing. It's now planning on doing wicked awesome this current fiscal year, with an expected 11% increase in sales. That means instead of the 28 million Nintendo DSs and 25 million Wiis it had planned to ship by March 31 of 2009, it will ship... more. More software too! Laughs and chuckles were heard emanating from the company's Kyoto offices today.

Oh, and it'll make more money accordingly. Operating income and net income have both been projected to be much, much higher. What does that really mean?

Net income of somewhere in the ballpark of $3.8 billion (in U.S. bucks) for the year, according to Bloomberg, news that gave Nintendo's stock price a positive kick in the pants. The Bloomberg report does not mention, however, exactly when Nintendo expects to give up its efforts and go third party and put guns on cars like they probably should. You're just prolonging the inevitable, Iwata!

Nintendo Raises Forecasts on Wii, DS; Shares Surge [Bloomberg]

Unsolved Crimes Investigated In September

Empire Interactive's 1970's New York crime drama Unsolved Crimes is one step closer to being solved, as the company announces the game has gone gold and is heading our way next month. Having only just been officially announced last month, the game should be hitting store shelves on or around September 23rd.

This is exactly the sort of development cycle I want to see more of. Tell us about the game one month, release it two months later. Makes me long for the good old days before I had the internet and those pesky video game bloggers didn't tell us about games years before they were coming out. Jerks.

Latest Zubo DS Trailer Shows Horror Levels

Zubo is the latest comedy/action adventure/ rythm game coming from UK EA's Bright Light studio. While this might be a kids game, it sure does look pretty for the DS. Crecente got a chance to play it hands on a while back and said while it was for kids, it had enough style to be a possible hit for the handheld. In this new trailer we see some of the horror themed levels. The game will be headed to your Nintendo DS later this year.

You manage to look beyond the 360 price stuff on that Best Buy catalogue screen? You'll have noticed that the same page also manages to spill the beans on the metallic silver DS that was rumoured to hit the US a while back. It's got the standard $129.99 price, and with the catalogue due to appear on September 7, willl obviously be going on sale next month.

Stephen Fry 'Does' The Nintendo DS

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Stephen Fry is Best at everything. Actor, writer, director, comedian, poet, documentary maker, blogger, etc. etc. and bloody etc. again. In the UK we consider him a national treasure on a par with Excalibur, the Koh-i-noor Diamond and Queen Victoria's secret pr0n stash.

He has even lent his considerable vocal talent to Fable 2 — talk about renaissance man. Beat that, Leonardo, you big fraud.

Having recently begun an 87th career as a gadget blogger (via his Guardian newspaper column Dork Talk) the boy Fry has revealed his affection for the Nintendo DS and — true to form — offers a spot-on dissection of what is great about the handheld.

At the moment his interests seem to lie in the casual end of the gaming spectrum. Other games writers beware, though — if someone gives him a stack of Square RPGs we will all be out of a job by Christmas.

Dork Talk [The Guardian]

A Uniquely Bizarre New Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi Trailer

While Gamecock's Mushroom Men looks weird as hell I am very intrigued by the idea of controlling a Kung Fu trained piece of fungus. I mean think about it, what is stranger than using fungi to karate chop other fungi all in a bunch of mushroom nations? I'm getting hungry just talking about this. The game will hit Nintendo DS.

Guitar Hero: On Tour Full Size Guitar Mod

Now this is more like it. GH:On Tour is all well and good, but it is hard to feel like yer actual axe-wielding rock warrior when you are hunched over a DS with a soppy-looking 'Guitar Grip' attached to your hand like a Nerf knuckleduster.

Eric Ruckman was so desperate to give the DS port of Guitar Hero the thrashing it so richly deserves that he scooped out the innards of his PS2 guitar and melded it with a DS. The DS touch screen is still used for strumming - the plectrum stylus works even better in this context - and the crafty sod even bolted on an FM transmitter to pump stereo sound through his hi-fi.

Hack Guitar Hero DS into a guitar controller [Hack-A- Day via Engadget]

Follow the jump for a video of the mod in action

Overlord: Minions On DS - More DS-ish Than Overlord-y

Fans of the console Evil 'em-up Overlord have already been primed for the upcoming Overlord II. Suppose they find themselves in the Outside World, though — is the DS game Overlord: Minions going to scratch the itch for a bit of handheld Overlordin'?

If the early demo on show at the Games Convention is anything to go by, the answer is 'sorta'. Codemasters are first and foremost concentrating on making a solid DS game and then trying to cram as much Overlord into the thing as possible.

As such, the game is now entirely stylus-based with your supply of willing minions whittled down to just four - each of which has a special area of expertise. With a greater emphasis on puzzle solving the game looks to be veering towards Lemmings territory.

Not that there is anything wrong with Lemmings (we'll ignore the various shonky attempts at 3Ding that classic puzzler) but let's hope Codemasters don't lose that tasty Overlord flavour. Good for them for not just settling on a nice safe conversion, though.

Overlord Minions (Nintendo DS) [1Up]

The 20th edition of gaming’s signature sports simulation sells us a big-tent philosophy — dueling difficulty settings that will level the playing field between lifelong players of Madden football and more casual gamers who just want in on the fun without reading a playbook the size of an encyclopedia. As a business strategy, a more inclusive Madden makes a ton of sense. But that innovation underachieves in single-player mode and, online, it's not much use to advanced players and it seems more to drag out competitions between the equally bad ones.

That’s not to say Madden NFL 09 is a failure or a warmed-over roster update. It is by any objective measure the best version of the game since Madden ‘05, which was the game’s apotheosis on 2nd-generation consoles. Madden 09’s outstanding presentation will please lifelong adherents, and its remarkably accurate replay analysis will educate newcomers and encourage those returning to the series. Foundationally, this version begins the title's next generation. But in gameplay, it takes safe but incremental steps toward the classic, impossible goal of a sports title: Creating realistic competition that is challenging yet winnable. If you are not an experienced player, Madden ‘09 skews toward winnable, but it doesn’t leave you feeling like you played your best.

Nintendo Responds To July NPD Sales, Seems Pleased

And why wouldn't it be, honestly? The Wii outsold both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 combined, moving more than half a million waggle boxes out the door, bringing with it more Wii Fit boards than one is allowed to legally shake a stick at. It also shifted over 600,000 Nintendo DSs, no small feat.

According to Nintendo gloat data, the Wii was responsible for 49% of all console sales, the DS claiming 73% of all handheld sales in July.

Unfortunately, Nintendo of America EVP of Sales & Marketing Cammie Dunaway was rather low key with her quoted statement, saying “Various types of games for the Nintendo systems are represented in the top 10, demonstrating how we continue to break down the barriers between veteran and new players.” Adequate, but please punch it up for August, Cammie. Please?

Spore Goes Gold For A Sept 7th Release

Ladies and gentlemen, fire up the Creature Creator and prepare your finest penis-armed tripeds — Spore has left the building.

Even as I type, teams of misshapen, feather-crested spidergoats are ferrying the Gold disc over to the DVD factory with a note from Will Wright and a calender with a big red ring around September 7th.

The 'proper' versions of Spore for the PC & Mac will be accompanied by Spore Creatures for the Nintendo DS. iPhone owners will get their callused multi-touching fingers on Spore Origins on September 4th.

Spore Goes Gold, Definitely Arriving September 7 [Shacknews]

What 15,000 Hours Of DS Homebrew Development Looks Like

If you're a friend of Robert Pelloni and you're wondering why you haven't seen him for half a decade, here's why. Bob's Game, a title we'll assume is tentative for now, is a top down 2D adventure game built over the course of five years by a single person. Yes, one (obviously mad) developer is responsible for the programming, art, music, story and script required to bring Bob's Game to life.

According to the developer, the homebrew title is a simple adventure game, an RPG-lite sans repetitive battles that looks more than a bit Shenmue-esque. You can learn all about it by checking out the annotated version of the above clip at YouTube. Pelloni is currently seeking a publisher and hopefully sunlight.

"bob's game" for Nintendo DS [YouTube - thanks, Matt!]