It's Lara's first excursion on a Nintendo console, and the DS to boot.

SCI Entertainment, Eidos' parent company, unexpectedly announced today that upcoming current and next-gen title Tomb Raider: Legend will be featured on GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and the Nintendo DS. The GameCube will likely receive a port of the 3-D version available for PS2 and XBOX 360, among others, while the GBA game will probably feature 2-D gameplay similar to past GBA Tomb Raider games, following the same storyline as its 3-D counterparts. More mysteriously, a Nintendo DS version will be released concurrently. No word on whether this will be a 3-D port, 2-D version, or something completely unique. There also was no mention of features used, though touch screen functionality is more than likely. The move is even more surprising since Tomb Raider has never before been featured on a Nintendo console. Stay tuned for gameplay details as they're released.

Soon, you too will be able to make Happy Trees alongside the painting legend.

It may seem like an early April Fool's joke, but PGC has confirmed the announcement with both the developer, AGFRAG, and the late Bob Ross's production company. Keep in mind that the platforms are not finalized because the game does not yet have a publisher, but details of the publishing agreement and target platforms are expected at E3 in May.

In Production - Bob Ross Video Game

Bob Ross Inc. has announced in March 2006 that they have filed a letter of intent to license to Joseph Hatcher's AGFRAG Entertainment Group to develop exclusively worldwide video/computer games based on Bob Ross' creative, unique and easy to learn painting techniques and TV show properties.

Just how cheap is cheap, you say? Click the link to find out what Nintendo's president had to say on the subject.

Satoru Iwata, in an interview with CNN Money, revealed that Nintendo's first party games are going to be no more then $50.

"I cannot imagine any first party title could be priced for more than $50."

He couldn't guarantee that other companies would follow suit, however.

In regards to the reason for keeping prices low this generation, he gave this statement:

"I really don't think that there's going to be a lot of acceptance by current customers of the $60 price tag. They may allow that for a limited number of premium titles, but not all."

Well, not really, but someone at GDC thought of a game idea that would win the Peace Prize.

One of the side shows at the Game Developers Conference is the Game Design Challenge, a one-hour long panel where three of the top game designers in the industry offer ideas for games on oddball subjects. This year marked the third installment of the event, with the task of creating a videogame that could win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Harvey Smith, designer of PC games such as System Shock and Deus Ex, won the crowd's approval for best game idea. The game, entitled Peace Bomb!, would require players to suddenly gather up a crowd and do something great for society.

Hudson elaborates on TurboGrafx (PC-Engine) capabilities for Nintendo's upcoming download/emulation service.

According to an announcement by Hudson's Japanese office (link above), the Virtual Console support for TurboGrafx games, announced yesterday, includes both card and CD-ROM games. The Hudson/NEC-designed system was known as PC-Engine in Japan, where it enjoyed far more success and is remembered for several classic games which were never released elsewhere. The system underwent numerous revisions, going from a solid-state storage format to a few different CD-ROM formats.

Today's announcement confirms that the Nintendo Revolution's emulation will cover games stored on ROM cards and at least one of the CD formats, known as CD-ROM2. Whether the Super CD and Arcade CD formats will be supported is currently not clear. Hudson notes that more than 670 games were released on the system over the years, 122 of which were published by Hudson itself.

Thursday Katsuya Eguchi discussed the development and evolution of Animal Crossing from the 64DD to the DS. A summary and an audio recording of his presentation are both inside!

Katsuya Eguchi, director of the Animal Crossing games, spoke Thursday at GDC in a session entitled "Is That a Franchise in Your Pocket? An Animal Crossing: Wild World Case Study." His casual presentation included a history of the series, an overview of the gameplay, and what makes it a daily experience. I have summarized his presentation in this article, but you may listen to Tim O'Leary's translation for further details.

He began by explaining the first game's very different origins. Animal Forest was originally slated for the 64DD attachment for the N64. Although the game was always focused on communication, the team was initially uncomfortable about straying from the familiar goal-based structure. The mostly-powerless main character would communicate and enlist the help of animals in an adventure-style game against a great evil. The game was a true adventure game—complete with dungeons—but the team secretly hoped communicating with the animals would side-track players from the main quest.

The puppy powered portable picks up two awards, but two other DS games are beat out in their categories.

The sixth annual Game Developer Choice Awards were held on Wednesday night, and the winners are in. Unlike the AIAS awards, Developer Choice awards are voted on only by game developers.

Nintendogs won the award in the Best Technology category, and also picked up a special Innovation Award. It was also nominated for Game Design, but lost to the night's big winner, Shadow of the Colossus for the PS2. SotC won five awards in total, including Best Game.

Other Nintendo titles nominated for awards included Electroplankton for Best Audio, and Animal Crossing for Best Game. Neither won an award.

The official full transcription of Iwata's speech, covering Brain Training development, Revolution development, how the "Virtual Console" will provide new opportunities to developers, and more.

2006 GDC KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Thank you so much for giving me the honor of speaking before you again this year. In my job, I have to talk to a lot of people, but as you all know, since I still have the heart of a gamer, I have the most fun talking to you!

Once upon a time, way back in the 1980's, a company became number one because its products meant 'fun' to young people. Then, in the 1990's, a bigger company with a bigger brand name and bigger budgets took away the number one spot.

Katsuya Eguchi confirms that the series is headed for Nintendo's new console.

In a presentation at the 2006 Game Developers Conference, Katsuya Eguchi, the producer of Animal Crossing and the DS sequel, Wild World, mentioned plans for the future of the series:

"Our next challenge is to think of how to bring Animal Crossing to the Revolution."

Although it sounds like the game is still in the conceptual phase, this should be welcome news for fans of the popular "communication game".

We'll have more information about the Animal Crossing series, the success of Wild World's online feature, and hopefully more details on the Revolution version soon, as Michael Cole delivers a wrap-up of Mr. Eguchi's speech and an interview with the man himself tomorrow.

But the biggest Revolution secret will not be revealed for a few more weeks (E3).

In his GDC Keynote speech today, Satoru Iwata said he wants Nintendo WiFi Connection to be like mySpace in terms of ease of use and popularity. He also compared Revolution's Virtual Console service to iTunes and said that once other companies saw it, they jumped on board eagerly. This claim was backed up by the announcement that Sega Genesis (Megadrive) and TurboGrafx games will be available for the Virtual Console, in addition to Nintendo's own games from NES, SNES, and N64.

Although Nintendo's business practices, design philosophies, and devoted fanbase have long drawn comparisons to Apple from commentators, this is the first time Nintendo has favorably compared itself to the company. In the past, Reggie Fils-Aime has briefly mentioned iPod sales being dwarfed by Game Boy Advance sales, though that was before iPod had its biggest quarter yet in Fall 2005.