NINTENDO DS LITE GOES PLATINUM!

-Nintendo DS Lite hardware & software sales reach all-new highs as Nintendo DS Silver makes its debut-

13th September 2007 - Not content with just providing a raft of quality titles to look forward to this winter, Nintendo of Europe is adding a new colour of Nintendo DS Lite to the range. Joining the already popular black, white and pink versions, from 12th October 2007, Nintendo DS Lite will be available across Europe in silver - the perfect accessory whatever you are wearing!

Nintendo DS has become Europe's best-selling games console, with over 14 million sold to date and in many markets across Europe it is the fastest selling handheld games console in history. Strong sales are being maintained even in traditionally slow sales periods in the video games industry's seasonality and this is being seen with software as well as hardware. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima: How Old Is Your Brain? will soon hit the 1 million milestone in Europe, with over 915,000 already sold in just 11 weeks since launch. The original Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? has sold over 3.3 million copies and continues to feature high in software sales charts across Europe, despite launching over a year ago. Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl have sold approximately 1.6 million copies combined in just 7 weeks since their launch.

As sales continue to grow at a rapid rate, it is not only traditional gamers who are enjoying the touch screen controls and wide range of software. Whether you wish to exercise your brain, train and communicate with puppies, battle and collect Pokémon or embark on in-depth adventures, the DS has software that is appealing to both avid games and new gamers of all ages. This momentum for Nintendo DS is set to continue with forthcoming new releases, including the highly anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass which launches across Europe on 19th October 2007.

Nintendo DS Lite Silver launches across Europe on 12th October and will be available for the estimated retail price around £99.

The Xbox 360 Eragon demo is live on Live now, but only gold members can download it. It's looking like this is the new way Microsoft is going to start rolling out their Live demos.

I'm not sure if it's exactly good timing for Microsoft to start jankifying their online services when the competition is about to launch their consoles, both of which come with free online services. Brian Crecente

Sony Computer Entertainment today announced that they would be bringing three new colors to Japan's PSPs. Pink, blue and silver will join the white and black PSPs already being sold there. Prices will remain unchanged. The pink hits on Nov. 22, silver on Dec. 14 and blue on Dec. 22. Now to see if anyone has the berries to export them. Brian Crecente

Sony today announced the release of a new, limited edition silver Playstation 2. The console, soon to be outdated by the Playstation 3 on Nov. 17, will sell for $130 and include a silver PS2 controller. Funny enough, the controller, with its heft and shakeyness, will soon be cutting edge among Playstation console controllers.

Sony also reminded us that they did, in fact, make a killing with the Playstation 2 and plan to continue to do so. To date Sony has sold more than 111 million of the consoles and 1.12 billion games for it.

"Six years after its initial launch, the PlayStation 2 continues to enjoy nonstop success, outselling all other consoles," said Jack Tretton, executive vice president, co-COO, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "The introduction of this limited edition model is sure to be a hit this holiday season with die-hard PlayStation fans and new gamers alike."

Brian Crecente

After posting on his blog that the new Gears of War promotional ad would only be downloadable by Xbox Live Gold members, Major 'Larry Unpronounceable Last Name' Nelson went on to clarify in the comments:

So here is the deal..Silver members WILL get access to this..probably in about a week. This is going to happen more and more (Gold getting things before Silver) so you may want to think about upgrading if you want all the latest and greatest trailers, demos etc.

Right! Because why should Microsoft market to you for free when they can get you to pay them to market to you? Mark my words: demos and trailers costing Live points is just around the corner. Florian Eckhardt

Trailer: Gears of War Ad [Major Nelson]

Engadget reports on a looming release:

GameStop has been listing the $130 unit for pre-order for a while now, but now we've got word from a Target employee that confirms the price and date (October 24th) and reveals the quantity of the limited edition run: 500,000.

The goofy, vaguely maddening thing about this is, of course, that the PS3 is launching with 500,000 units as well. And apparently Europe has had this forever, making it even weirder that it's launching right now.

Sony seems like a many-tentacled hentai beast, in which each pseudopod is completely ignorant of what the others are doing at any given time. Playing piano? Reaming a schoolgirl? Spelling dirty words in cursive? It is a mystery. Thanks Shannon. Eliza Gauger

Silver PS2 Shipping October 24th? [Engadget]