Nikkei has reported that Nintendo is set to release a new DS version before this year ends. Among the improvements would be a better wireless functionality, larger display screen, built-in camera and music player.

The built-in camera is said to be used by some games in the future, wherein the picture will be incorporated in the gameplay. It is said that the new DS will be available initially available only in Japan to test whether gamers would welcome it.

Being a music lover, I like this new music player feature, although I need to buy a bigger SD card to store my mp3s.

There’s no official word from Nintendo yet regarding this development. I guess we all have to wait for their autumn conference where they are said to announce some product news.

Still no news on a Wii update yet. I wish Nintendo would give in with the request of a larger memory capacity for the Wii.

I’ll keep you posted once more news is available on this one. Would you be willing to buy an updated DS or will you stick with your old one? What are your thoughts about the latest features?

Clever Kids is said to be the only console game series that contain curriculum based educational content for children ages 5 to 10 years old. That’s why the developers thought of bringing it to today’s most popular gaming consoles, the Nintendo Wii and DS.

Parents should know that the Clever Kids games are made for kids to learn by interacting with the games’ environment. The games could improve your kid’s analytical reasoning, brain functions, and dexterity. It also hopes to increase this generation’s attention span.

In Clever Kids: Farmyard Fun you’ll meet Farmer Sprocket as he tends his farm animals and learn about what it’s like to run a farm. There are various mini-games and activities such as painting, jigsaw puzzles, memory games, spot the difference, pairs and pop quizzes.

Clever Kids: Pirates has, you guessed right, pirates theme. Sprocket would be sailing the seven seas and your kids will learn everything about life in the sea. Kids will cipher the pirate code, pair pirates with their flags, and a lot more.

Farmyard Fun and Pirates present valuable lessons in a fun way that your kids would not be bored at all. Both games are available for the Wii and the DS. Games like these are good for your kids. I definitely recommend these games for your clever kids.

Wario, bands, crime, city and a company in this week’s Nintendo News round up.

Ultimate Band Hands-on
IGN staff get to play with Ultimate Band, Disney’s take on Guitar Hero, minus the instruments. Would gamers prefer playing with the Wii remote than a Rock Band or Guitar Hero guitar? Disney hopes the answer to that question is yes.

GTA courting M on DS, didn’t fit with Wii
Chinatown Wars for the DS won’t be diluted and might be getting an M rating. This should erase the fears of hardcore gamers that the game might be diluted to suit the wholesome image of the console. Read my previous post regarding GTA for the Wii.

EA ships SimCity Creator for the Wii and Nintendo DS
This is good news for SimCity fans. More sleepless nights once this game ships out.

SCi Entertainment Group plc - SWOT Analysis - Companies and Markets adds new report
This is SCI’s company profile. The company has a lot of studios under its wing including Eidos, Crystal Dynamic and Io Interactive.

Nintendo Shakes Up Six Flags Magic Mountain
To commemorate Wario Land: Shake It’s release, Nintendo will hold an interactive competition at Six Flags Magic Mountain on September 27. Winners will bring home a Wii, a copy of the game, and a DS console. Be at the venue during the said date to join in the fun.

Two classic Nintendo characters are making their comeback. Kirby will be released for the DS while Wario is set for a Wii game.

The Wii gamers can already grab a copy of Wario Land: Shake It! at any retail stores. Although Wario will never be Mario, Shake It! is an enjoyable game. Your kids will surely spend a lot of fun filled hours with it. Mature gamers might find the gameplay to be repetitive but we are not the target demographic anyway.

Kirby Super Star Ultra for the DS would be the latest incarnation of the Kirby SNES game. It would feature new levels, new challenges and modern graphics as well. A multiplayer mode is available where four players can play via the DS’ Wi-Fi connection.

Kirby Super Star Ultra and Wario Land: Shake It! are games for the young ones. Expect these games to be in their Christmas wish list. Better grab a copy now and avoid the holiday rush.

Nintendo might be on to something when it launched educational brain games after another for the Wii and DS. Experts are saying that game-based learning is an efficient method in teaching children about subjects that would normally be boring or uninteresting to them.

Scotland has embraced this method of teaching and has around 27 local authorities using game-based learning. Teachers are said to use games such as Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, Wii Sports, and Guitar Hero to teach various personal skills and at the same time motivate their students. Read more »

Dan Houser has spoken. The Rockstar cofounder has stated that the Grand Theft Auto on the Wii would not feel natural as compared to it being on the DS. To quote Houser:

“It really was that the DS felt like it had a lot of interesting challenges that would be totally different from what we’d done in the past. The stylus and the chance to use minigames in that way was really interesting and exciting to us, and we thought we could integrate seamlessly between those two modes.”

I hope they change their mind on the Wii. The console needs a game like GTA in the mix to draw the non-casual crowd. I’m just saying that with all the casual games available for the Wii, a GTA game would be healthy for the Wii. If Nintendo thinks that a GTA game would ruin Wii’s wholesome image, then make one for the Wii with a built-in parental control mode, a parallel sanitized version.

It’s quite rare for a PC game to be ported directly to the DS. The games’ animation will suffer during the conversion. Therefore Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle should be considered a class of its own. For one, Runaway will be the first to use the VX2 video codec for the DS. This gives the game more than one hour of cut scenes that are vital for the storyline and to provide comedic relief as well. That’s the reason why Runaway will be shipped in the largest DS cartridge to date.

But what good is the animation if the game is not that great. Well a million PC gamers would vouch for Runaway’s quality. It is an adventure game that promises to give you tons of fun and humorous gaming hours. Read more »

Casual Pirate games, Runaway, more “games”, third parties and takeovers in this week’s Nintendo News round up.

Pirate Party to Party Hard on Wii and DS
Pirate fun for everyone is what Pirate Party promises to bring. It has various mini-games with single, cooperative and versus modes. When will I get out of casual gaming hell?

Microsoft Considered Buying Nintendo, Says EA Exec
EA President Peter Moore used to be with Microsoft and stated that Gates’ corporation considered getting Nintendo to stop Sony’s PlayStation supremacy five years ago. Maybe they should have bought Nintendo and then maybe we won’t have too much casual game at present.

Runaway heading to Wii, DS
Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle is the newest game of the series. It will be available this November for the Wii and DS.

Nintendo Canada And Ubi Soft Montreal Showcase 17 Lifestyle And Fitness Games
Language tutorials, cooking guides, life coach, and other fitness games… Yeah these are the “games” Ubisoft will be releasing soon. When will this torture end?

Third Party developers struggling on Nintendo’s Wii?
This has been the issue since the beginning. Nintendo still hasn’t budge on the issue of more storage capability. Nintendo should not put their success in their heads. Microsoft and Sony might find a way to snatch their crown soon.

A first-person light saber game for the Wii had all the potential to start with. When the news of it got leaked out, every Star Wars fan, including me, had their hopes high for the actual game. Well just like the animated movie Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was a big disappointment.

The possibility of emulating the light saber through the Wii remote and nunchuk made me want to have The Force Unleashed. Unlike conventional controllers, you get to swing the Wii remote like a light saber. It doesn’t matter where you swing it, as long as you swing it. At first it was fun but after an hour or so, the repetitive action gets to you. Read more »

Gone are the days when cooking shows are boring as hell. Although rhetorically speaking, hell might not be that boring, if it does exist but that’s not what this is about. What I would like to talk about is Hell’s Kitchen. Since its debut, Hell’s Kitchen has managed to captivate its audience every week. A big part of it is mainly due to its foul mouthed host Gordon Ramsey.

Apparently, much to the dismay of its conservative critics, fans of the show will have something to celebrate when Ubisoft announced a Hell’s Kitchen video game featuring its fiery host, Gordon Ramsey. It will be available for the PC, Mac, and the Wii.

The (bleep) game for the (bleep) Wii will have players (bleep) manage a restaurant while (bleep) they are supervised by Ramsay. They will be (bleep) judged by Ramsay on preparation, cooking and (bleep) service. As you (bleep) progress through the game, (bleep) players would unlock additional (bleep) recipes.

Ramsay is mighty proud and has this to say about the game:

“I had a great time doing the voice for my own animation. Being in a video game is a new experience for me and I’m very pleased with the results.”

Hmmm… Ramsay sounded sweet on that one. Anyway, Hell’s Kitchen for the Wii will be out on November this year. This would be the cooking game of the year. If you don’t believe me then you can (bleep) go to Hell.