Another 3rd party manufacturer pledges to provide cases, styluses, headphones and more.

Hip Gear(TM) announces full line of accessories for Nintendo DS

TORONTO, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Hip Gear(TM), a division of Hip Interactive Corp. and Canada's largest third party accessories provider, today announced its full line of accessories for the new Nintendo DS(TM) console system, which will launch in North America in November 2004. Hip Gear(TM) will be shipping the line to retailers across North America in time for the busy holiday season.

Click this headline if you enjoy classical Japanese literature.

Today, Hiroshi Yamauchi announced a plan to create an advanced new animation studio for theatrical releases, which will be formally proposed to the board in October.

The first production will be based on the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, a famous collection of classical Japanese poetry. There will be an opening ceremony at the famous villa, named Shiguretei, where the collection was compiled.

Yamauchi mentioned that he wants these productions to not only be popular in Japan, but also overseas. Also, the studio will be situated near the game designers for easy access. He also mentioned this would be a good risk for Nintendo to take.

Plus, more details on how big the Metroid demo will be.

There you go. Nintendo of America has included a logo for Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt right on the Nintendo DS's box, but the company is saying that later shipments of the system may have a cleaner look...

In addition to the built-in instant-messaging PictoChat feature, Nintendo DS units in North America will come with a free Nintendo DS Game Card featuring a playable demo of the upcoming Metroid Prime Hunters game*. The demo, called Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, will feature several single-player modes of the first-person adventure game along with a unique multiplayer mode in which four DS users can compete wirelessly. Nintendo DS launches Nov. 21 in North America at an MSRP of $149.99.

The GameCube LAN tunnelers are moving on to more fertile grounds. We spoke with the Project Manager to get a cleaner angle on all the crazy rumors.

Chad Paulson, Project Manager at Warp Pipe Technologies, has been stirring up quite a lot of controversy this week. His posts at the Warp Pipe forums, along with some comments by Dean Bergmann of N-Sider, have ignited a blizzard of rumors and speculation in the online community. Bergmann worked forum posters into a frenzy with this cryptic teaser:

“You're lost in the woods of a city, and you know there are others there.

Fusion Tour Bands and Celebrities Party Nintendo Style

Late Monday afternoon, we unexpectedly received an invitation from Nintendo to a party in Hollywood with the bands from Nintendo’s Fusion Tour and a host of other celebrities. Since the tour’s been on the road for several weeks now, it does seem a bit puzzling that they’d call it a kickoff, but no matter, Steven Rodriguez and I decided to attend.

Taking place at Joseph’s, a small club near Capitol Records that regularly hosts celebrity parties, Nintendo’s party was rather simple. On the sidewalk, there was a wall emblazoned with the Fusion Tour logo and a blue carpet (apparently they were out of red ones). Inside, there was a DJ on the dance floor, a large common area, and a small room set up with games next to the bar. At first it seemed that having the bar and games in the same area made it a bit overcrowded, but as some people started moving on to socialize, it turned into a valuable spot for Nintendo because whenever someone wanted a drink, on the way out, he or she would turn around to see a group of models or musicians having a blast playing Donkey Konga. Even late into the evening there were still people noticing the game for the first time, wanting to know what the heck it was.

Nintendo’s new commercial finally shows off the new L and R buttons, as well as the stylus’s home. Screen captures included.

Two days ago Nintendo of Japan launched its promotional Nintendo DS website with the first Nintendo DS commercial. Today, Nintendo posted a second commercial which provides our first good look at the back of the redesigned Nintendo DS

Although we already know that Nintendo ditched its ugly red E3 trigger buttons, the commercial demonstrates just how comfortable the buttons are. They appear to be a compromise between the original GBA’s broader paddle and the SP’s stubbier but uniform design.

Release of game to coincide with release of Disney movie in early 2005.

UBISOFT TO LAUNCH WINNIE THE POOH RUMBLY TUMBLY ADVENTURE ON CONSOLES, JOINTLY WITH THE MOVIE

London, UK – September 23, 2004 – Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, today announced plans to launch Disney's Winnie the Pooh Rumbly Tumbly Adventure – one of Disney's most famous properties – on Nintendo's GBA, GameCube™ and Sony's PlayStation® 2 at the beginning of 2005 simultaneously with the theatrical release of Disney's new Winnie the Pooh movie.

Learn more about the completely redone combat system.

Q&A

1) Why did you choose to enhance the fighting system in Prince of Persia Warrier Within?

Essentially we wanted the game to feel like a thriller, to generate a sense of fear and oppression. We made the Prince more powerful and we put him in a darker, mysterious and oppressive environment, with fiercer and frightening enemies ... He has to fight for his life and so has trained to become a master warrior.

As a master warrior the new Prince must be able to use new techniques, and we really think the new combat system we've designed will bring a new meaning to the action combat genre. Each fight will be unique and players will be able to defeat enemies in their own way...

The largest third-party accessory company is fully on board with Nintendo's new handheld.

Mad Catz Announces Accessory Lineup for the Nintendo DS

SAN DIEGO--Sept. 24, 2004--Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSX:

MCZ), the world's leading third party video game accessory

manufacturer, today announced its prominent lineup of accessories for

the much anticipated Nintendo DS(TM). The accessories will begin

shipping in North America in conjunction with the launch of the

Nintendo DS this November.

"We are excited to be creating and offering the first third-party

Check out these videos of the new Dynasty Mode, Three-Point Shootout, and Slam Dunk Contest. Dr. J in the house!

Courtesy of Electronic Arts, we've got some huge 640x480 movies of NBA Live 2005's new Slam Dunk Contest, Three-Point Shootout, and Dynasty Mode. Left-click to download!

Dynasty Mode (67 MB, Quicktime format)

Three-Point Shootout (76 MB, Quicktime format)