Konami announces its acquisition of additional Hudson shares, making it Hudson's majority stockholder.

Konami revealed its new position as majority stockholder of Hudson Soft Co., Ltd. today on its Japanese website.

After dismal fiscal year for Hudson, the software company turned to its primary stockholder, Konami, to improve its fiscal situation. Hoping to "strengthen Hudson's net worth," Konami agreed to purchase 3 million new shares to raise its ownership of Hudson from forty-five percent to fifty-four percent.

French Developer/Publisher Ubisoft sets up camp in Quebec.

Ubisoft Announces the Opening of New Development Studio in Quebec City

Quebec City, Canada - April 11, 2005 - Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announced the creation of a new videogame development studio that will employ 200 designers, animators and programmers... Read more...

Hot Pursuit's police chases and Underground's custom tuning will merge in the next game, Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

EA ANNOUNCES NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED

A New Racer Hits the Streets This November from the Creators of the Critically Acclaimed Need for Speed Underground Series

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – April 11, 2005 – Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) announced today that Need for Speed™ Most Wanted,... Read more...

Available in limited quantities only at Pokepark.

Nintendo has announced that a special edition Blue Pokepark DS will be on sale in limited quantities at Pokepark. Pokepark is a temporary amusement park, set up in Japan from March 18th through September 25th of this year. The system features a darker blue finish than the upcoming turquoise DS, as well as a Pokepark logo on the top of the system and a Pikachu silhouette near the top screen.

Bond's enemies need your help once more.

EA Announces GoldenEye: Rogue Agent for the Nintendo DS; Villains Rule in Latest Edition in James Bond Videogame Series

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. April 7, 2005. Electronic Arts today announced plans to release GoldenEye: Rogue Agent for the Nintendo DS this June. Going where no previous James... Read more...

Joe is back in a new adventure.

Famitsu has a new report on Capcom's Viewtiful Joe series. The franchise is coming to Sony's Playstation Portable, in addition to staying on the GameCube and the Nintendo DS. There are two games planned.

The first is Viewtiful Joe: VFX Battle. This battle game is similar to Nintendo's own Super... Read more...

The new store in Rockefeller Center will add new Nintendo-branded items, while continuing to feature Pokemon goods.

Did You Know?

Upcoming Nintendo World Store in NYC Gives

Nintendo and Pokemon Fans a New Home

Interactive entertainment fans soon will have a first-ever

destination to immerse themselves in their favorite games: the

Nintendo World Store. Planned for a spring opening in New York City's

Warp Pipe Technologies terminates support for their tunneling project.

Warp Pipe Technologies recently announced the discontinuation of work on their Warp Pipe tunneling software. Warp Pipe's software offers GameCube owners an unofficial way to play LAN-enabled games such as Mario Kart Double Dash and Kirby Air Ride online.

Over time the team of game enthusiasts... Read more...

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory features in-game advertisements for "added realism."

Ubisoft Announces In-Game Advertising Partners for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory; Partnerships Link Brands with Target Audience, Add Realism to Videogames

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 4, 2005--Today Ubisoft, one of the world's largest videogame publishers, announced its in-game... Read more...

If you live in Australia, prepare to get snowed under a whole heap of Zelda stuff this month.

Brace yourselves, Australian Zelda fans: Nintendo Australia is launching not one, not two, but a whopping THREE Legend of Zelda products this month. On the 7th of April (that's this Friday!), Australian Nintendo owners can finally get their hands on The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap and The Legend... Read more...

Back up DS saves and crack your GBA games with one bargain purchase.

Double The Action, Double The Fun!

Datel's Action Replay MAX DUO blows both the GBA and the DS wide open...

March 31st, 2005 - Now you can show the bad guys who's boss in all your favourite handheld games with Datel's dynamic new Action Replay MAX DUO! Combining Action Replay for GBA and MAX Drive DS, DUO is your all-in-one game enhancer for Game Boy Advance and the brand-new Nintendo DS.

Tomohiro Nishikado is working on the DS update of his 1978 arcade game.

SPACE INVADERS CREATOR TOMOHIRO NISHIKADO UNVEILS NINTENDO DSTM TITLE

Rising Star Games Reveals Brains Behind Forthcoming Handheld Release

Thursday 31 March 2005/... Rising Star Games, the new European publisher dedicated to bringing the very best Japanese games to the West, has revealed that the guiding light behind its forthcoming Nintendo DSTM title 'Space Invaders Revolution' is none other than the creator of the 1978 original.

Mario brought a petition to the honorary mayor of Hollywood to have video game notables included on the Walk of Fame.

VIDEO GAME HERO MARIO PETITIONS FOR NEW HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME CATEGORY

Interactive Entertainment Industry Deserves a Hollywood Star

REDMOND, Wash., March 30, 2005 – He starred in dozens of video games. He proved himself a more bankable celebrity than either Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise.... Read more...

DS sales have now reached 500.000, with Super Mario 64 DS and WarioWare Touched being the most popular launch games.

According to NoE, DS sales have been outstanding in Europe since the launch. By Easter Saturday over 500.000 units had been sold, which amounts to 77% of the consoles that were shipped to retailers. Many stores report that they’re out of stock, but new deliveries are on the way.

As for game... Read more...

Nintendo showcases PictoChat art in its forums.

Did You Know?

Nintendo DS Fans Use Touch Screen to Create Pocket Picassos

The touch screen of Nintendo DS(TM) has created a legion of pocket

Picassos. Around the world, artistic Nintendo DS owners have

contributed to image galleries that capture the temporary art they

created using the system's built-in PictoChat(TM) chatting and drawing

A new combat racing game from the folks at Ubisoft is headed to the GameCube.

Ubisoft Erupts with 187 Ride or Die; New Combat-Racing Game Hits Consoles and PC

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 2005--Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, today announces 187 Ride or Die(TM), an urban-themed combat racing game that plunges players into a brutal... Read more...

Nintendo wants to see pictures of your hand touching... stuff. (No, it's not what you think.)

Nintendo of America just opened up a new website for those DS owners wanting to show off their artistic side, and if you think you can touch the hearts and minds of Nintendo, you might win some serious loot.

Those who think touching is good can submit photographs or short videos showing off a... Read more...

The famed director was recently honored for his work with Starlight, which places Nintendo Fun Centers in hospitals for children.

Film director Steven Spielberg was honored Thursday night for his work as co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Starlight Starbright Foundation. Nintendo of America is another key partner with Starlight Starbright, providing portable Fun Centers (mobile kiosks with a GameCube and DVD player) for hospitalized children throughout North America.

It's time to wish Happy Birthday to Chris Bethea and David Trammell!

Here at PGC, we like to post these little notes when one of our staff members has a birthday. Well, today is a special occasion, with not one but TWO birthdays on the same day!

Chris Bethea started as our Japan Correspondent while studying abroad there. After coming home to the States, he's... Read more...

Nintendo Power talks online and shows off new titles.

Nintendo Power Volume 191 features a big DS blowout with more details regarding online plans for Nintendo DS, new games shown off for the first time, and several developer interviews.

The online announcement echoes Iwata’s GDC speech, with one important distinction: Nintendo is partnering with... Read more...