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.

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... Read more...

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:

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.

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... Read more...

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... Read more...

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.

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

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)

Julius "Dr. J" Irving - Slam Dunk Contest (48 MB, Quicktime format)

The basketball game is gold and ready for release next week.

EA announced today that its NBA Live 2005 for the Nintendo GameCube and other consoles is in production and will ship to retailers on Tuesday, September 28th.

EA Canada’s new basketball game, released under the EA Sports brand, improves on last year’s edition with improved graphics and new gameplay modes such as a Freestyle Air and Slam Dunk Contest mode.

Yeah, the Will Ferrell movie.

ELF TO SPEND THE HOLIDAYS ON

NINTENDO'S GAME BOY® ADVANCE FROM CRAVE

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - September 23, 2004 - There is an Elf coming to Game

Boy® Advance and his name is Buddy! Crave Entertainment, a leading publisher

of videogames, announced today that they will release a handheld game based

See two stages in both story and classic mode in the latest Tony Hawk game.

THUG 2 lets you skate either in the "World Destruction Tour" story mode or in the classic mode, which has all the old-school goals and two-minute runs. The movies below show off both ways to play for each of two levels in the game. Left-click for your free downloads.

Barcelona - Story Mode (15 MB, Windows Media format)

If you're still not sure what this multiplayer action/RPG is all about, this video should clear things up quite nicely.

To accompany this week's launch of X-Men Legends, Activision has provided a launch trailer that does a good job of summarizing the game's features and style. Left-click below to download it for free.

X-Men Legends Launch Trailer (24.5 MB, Quicktime format)

The licensed title, developed by Vicarious Visions, becomes the first confirmed Nintendo DS launch title.

Activision Announces Spider-Man 2 for the Nintendo(R) DS Portable Video Game System

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI - News) announced today that the company's first title for the Nintendo® DS video game platform will be the video game Spider-Man... Read more...

Check out a preview video of the only major military game GameCube will be getting this fall.

Somewhat to our surprise, Call of Duty: Finest Hour was announced for a GameCube release back at E3. (I actually asked Activision to make sure it wasn't a typo.) The game recreates many legendary battles from World War II, with tons of intense scripted events. For instance, one stage has you playing... Read more...

The boys are coming.

BAD BOYS: MIAMI TAKEDOWN

SHIPS FOR PLAYSTATION 2, NINTENDO GAMECUBE & Xbox

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - September 21, 2004 -Crave Entertainment and Empire

Interactive, leading publishers of console videogames, today announced the

release of Bad Boys: Miami Takedown for the PlayStation®2 computer

Nintendo of America held a teleconference this morning with Reggie, Perrin Kaplan, and George Harrison, revealing a few more details and answering questions.

Nintendo of America held a teleconference regarding the DS this morning from 7:30 - 8:15 Pacific Time. In attendance were Reggie Fils-Aime (Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing), George Harrison (Senior Vice President, Marketing and Corporate Communications), and Perrin Kaplan (Vice President,... Read more...

Nintendo's fact sheet reveals a few more tidbits that we look over and break down.

In addition to the price and release date bomb they dropped on our heads this morning, Nintendo also released a more complete fact sheet on the hardware. A few notes caught our eye, and we wanted to be sure to point out some bits you may have missed.

Top Screen: A backlit, 3-inch, semitransparent reflective TFT color LCD with 256 x 192 pixel resolution and .24 mm dot pitch, capable of displaying 260,000 colors

$149.99, 11/21/2004, PictoChat! We've got the official release date and price for the Nintendo DS in North America and Japan. UPDATE: Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt included.

Jump to Japanese launch information!

UPDATE: Nintendo has also revealed that Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt is being bundled with the DS. First Hunt is a four-player demo, designed to show off the system's wireless multiplayer function. It's unclear whether there is a single-player mode in the demo, but it is expected in the full version of Metroid Prime Hunters which will be released at a later date.

Releasing on all platforms simultaneously in 2005.

Previously unmentioned for GameCube, Splinter Cell Chaos Theory will now release in March 2005 along with the Xbox, PS2, and PC versions which were pushed back from a fall release date. It seems that Ubisoft wanted gamers from all four markets to experience the game simultaneously, but rumors suggest that they may have wisely ducked out of the oversaturated 2004 holiday season. The brief media release is below: