Looks like their mistreatment of workers has provided EA Games enough of a margin to cut prices on all of their games — both existing and future releases.

From Gamespot:

Electronics Arts, not having a console of its own to discount, is doing its part to help gamers stay entertained while they wait for their bank accounts to bloat. The company, which last month knocked as much as $20 off existing current-gen games, is now releasing new and upcoming games at lower prices, reports Reuters.

The new Fight Night next gen game is only 39.95 bucks. Wow.. EA did something I actually like.

A while back, probably in the Fall, I ‘remember’ a talk I had with Jordan about the upcoming slimline Nintendo DS. Shortly before Christmas I once again spoke to him about it, but he had aboslutley no idea what I was talking about. Seems that I dreamt the whole thing. I went away from the conversation wondering if Tinkerbell was right — did I have reality vs imagination problems to deal with?

Thankfully that bitch was wrong. There’s a new slimline DS coming. One of my beefs with the original DS was that it was a honking mass of ‘portable’ gaming. This slimline version is 42% smaller…. and although rumors say that the screens will stay the same size, here’s hoping that the smaller form factor doesn’t affect gameplay too much. After all, the DS has some pretty unique controls.

The DS-Lite is reported to launch in March in Japan, at 112 Euros. Considering the already impressive lineup of DS games, this console seems like a no-brainer to me. Read more about it at Eurogamer.

A friend at work sent me this gem.

Basically a blogger’s kid really wants a PSP.. but they didnt buy him one for financial reasons. Well the kid is obsessed.

Like.. REALLY obsessed. He’s taken to drawing PSPs to scale on paper, and selling them to his friends for a quarter.

The blogger decided to start a fund drive for his kid, raising money for the psp, and he’d send the highest donor some original PSP artowork.

Well it worked, and little Junior got his PSP.

Let’s hear it for this heartwarming story about budding gamers of the world!

Now… whats that kid doing obsessing about playing GTA? Hes not “mature” yet!

I’ve had a PSP and DS for well - over 6 months each. The PSP I went with Miner on launch day and the DS I got about a month later. The DS orginally went unused as I waited for Animal Crossing and other games.

I purchased just about every game for the PSP, downloaded videos, made movies for it, and then in the end…stopped playing the games as they would last a week, and only recently enjoyed playing the new Harry Potter game on it.

The DS over the past 3 months however has increased in use. Once I got a decent game like Animal Crossing, Mario & Luigi Partners in Time, and Mario Kart - it was like I never had played a game system so complete. Since then I’ve played more DS than I ever did on the PSP. Some days I’ve played for 2-3 hours. The stylus input - the battery lasts forever - and the games are nothing short of fun - REALLY FUN.

So I’m not sure why I had to write this but I did somehow have to express how incredible the DS is. The two screens are amazing. The controls easy.

It’s light - the games - THE GAMES!

I just received electroplankton - wowser. It’s nothing short of well - fun. FUN I TELL YOU!

Okay - I’m mad with DS love. Mad I tell you.

This is one of those titles I’ve been looking forward to on the PSP for some time. Much like seeing GTA make it over, this title feels more like taking those PS titles we love, and put them on the go.

Here is Gamespot’s preview.

My biggest concern is the control scheme (I wish they had just put 2 analogs on the PSP), and here is what the ’spot thought:

“As far as the game’s control goes, the game’s use of the D-pad and PSP face buttons in lieu of the dual analog stick system seen in the console games works pretty well. You’ll move forward by pushing up on the D-pad and holding down the triangle button and reverse by holding down on the D-pad and the X button. Moving left is done by holding left on the D-pad and the square button while moving right requires you to hold right on the D-pad and circle button. To turn you’ll need to hold right or left on the D pad while holding circle or square to maneuver around the katamari. Charging requires you to alternate between the D pad and triangle. The quick 180-degree flip is done by double tapping the circle button and left on the D pad. Though there is a learning curve, the control scheme ends up working out fairly well on the PSP. However now that we’ve had some time to spend with the game we’ve noticed some rough spots in the control As we mentioned in our previous impressions the scheme works but lacks some precision which ends up making the game a bit more challenging. Getting your katamari where you want it to go, especially once it’s grown to epic, size can be a chore. If you play the game for extended periods of time you may also be in for some hand cramping. Granted none of this ruins the experience but it dulls the game’s shine a bit.”

Gizmodo has broken the news that the DS is about to get shaken.. and stirred.

Sawheeet.

Game Boy Micro Reviw @ Ars

Reviews have started popping up arond the net on the newly released Gameboy Mico.

I tell you, Nintendo is hitting on a new upswing. Their attempt to really make their products accessable to the public at large is apparent in both the micro and the as yet to be released Revolution.

Currently, Nintendo owns the handheld market, and is actually the smaller player in the console market. But with their latest moves, I smell some tide turning. While the PSP is mighty and powerful, its not accessable. Hell I sit and wonder at times how I can port mine around, given that i had to put it inside a mammoth case to protect it. Pocket? barely. Backpack? More likely. Sure its hot and sexy.. but portable is actally a stretch. Hell, I’m too afraid I’ll drop it!

But look at the trends in electronics now:

• MP3 players– First the Diamond Rio and the Creative Nomad, then the one that overcomes it all the Ipod, quickly followed by the Ipod Mini. then the Shuffle. and the Nano.
• Look at Phones. Smaller and smaller (nokia standard from 3 years ago to the amazing camera / internet / wooo woo curvy motorolla’s of today)
• Look at PDAs, Palms 3-7 then poof small phone integrated treo.

Each time, even though the technology has been there, it takes a literal smoothing of the edges to make it catch on. Take the tech, and make it soft, easy to use, and make it integral to my life.

Yes. Electronics are at a boundry.. that boundry where the everyday person can wear them or carry them and where their lives become inextricabliy linked with them.

And her is the Micro bursting on the scene. And that Revolution-ary remote.

Yes. Nintendo is smelling the chic and it smells like Apple, and like the perfumes of the young technorati. The 30 somethings with real cash (jobs), and the teens of today who are ever more tech savvy.

Watch and learn people. I predict Nintendo making great strides over the next 3-5 years. And while Sony may be too big to feel much pain, I think Microsoft will feel the bite. Their system may have the horsepower, but I’ve seen cheaper HORSES!

Ok.. I think I’m off MY horse now. But to semi-quote the Matrix — If this is what I think it is… its a very exciting time.

From the review (he was just talking about the distinctive packaging):

“Therein lies the aim of the packaging and the faceplates. The Micro just looks so damn approachable. You can accessorize it, make it look how you want, get a nice screen, and not a whole lot of buttons. In fact, you can’t look at it without wanting to touch it, not to mention play with it. The DS looks like a compact, and the PSP looks incredibly intimidating for someone who may not be that comfortable with technology. The Micro looks high-tech, but it doesn’t seem to put people off. I had people who never tried videogames playing Mario Kart in no time.”

Gamespy has the 4.5/5 star review.

A few of us own PSPs so I think a lot of our handheld content leans toward that platform; we’ve pretty much ignored the Nintendo DS titles. But like a lot of DS games, TC is a bit of the ingenious. Take the old school board game “Operation” and mix it with a bit of the old interactive stylus action. Throw in a tiny bit of tasteful gore, some slicing, stressful thumping music, and a nurse who grills you out when you accidently butcher your patient.

Ingenious. Wish I owned a DS.

SonyxTeam.com

The SonyXTeam has released the firmware 2.0 downgrader. This was finally created thanks to an exploit found earlier this week in the 2.0 firmware pictureviewer that allowed for our favorite hack.. the Buffer Overflow.

So what does this mean?

It means homebrew apps on the PSP are back, for EVERYONE!

But really it means Sony will have a new Firmware in like.. a week to combat it.

Cmon sony.. just let HOMEBREW LIVE! IT MAKES YOUR HARDWARE BETTER!

(from Boing Boing)
http://gameman.loungespot.com/play/index.html

In case you come across a really bored giant…

That, my friends is a 3 foot tall Gameboy, cartriges included. And one very crazy art project.