The weekly roundup of everything Gamecube.

The spiky shell. That damn shell. It has been the bane of my existence for the past week or so. During my nightly Mario Kart marathon with my brother, he always gets the blue shell. Naturally, he always stores it until the final bend, when he unleashes it upon me to take the chequered flag. Of course, I've wised up a little since then- just before he's about to use it, a controller invariably gets mysteriously disconnected from its socket. Odd.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Plenty of news to report this week- so let's dive in, then. Nintendo revealed a few more nuggets of information about its fascinating DS handheld this week. They revealed that the console's two TFT LCD screens will be aligned top-to-bottom, and can merge into one screen. The games will be stored on thin memory cards, which have far lower production costs than a CD- of course, 'thin memory cards' could merely be Nintendo speak for standard cartridges. We'll see. Either way, the PSP this most certainly isn't. Also, Nintendo disclosed that Shigeru Miyamoto will unveil all-new titles for the console at E3- as well as details on third-party software and the platform's wireless functions. We have already learnt that Konami will fully support the new platform, with several titles already in development. Let's hope this means Metal Gear Solid and Pro Evolution Soccer, as opposed to Mickey Mouse's Generic Platformer 3000 and Yu-Gi-Oh. We can dream� And finally on the DS front, EA have not yet committed to the console- they are currently 'evaluating' it. In the meantime, they have thrown their weight behind the PlayStation Portable. We'll have more on this, as we get it.

The critically acclaimed Namco RPG "Baten Kaitos" is set for a release in the United States later this year. By all accounts, it is a highly accomplished RPG which has garnered huge praise in Japan. As ever, there is no confirmation as yet of a European release. Presumably, the huge translation duties will pose a problem. Hopefully, this and Namco's other top-drawer RPG excellent Tales of Symphonia will see a European release.

On the subject of all things Namco and RPG, the company have announced that they are working on a total of four new 'Tales' games. The Game Boy Advance will receive one, as will the GameCube and PlayStation2. The PSone will be treated to a compendium disk. Interestingly, all four games will be completely different and console-exclusive. The GameCube version is tentatively titled 'Tales of Legendia' and will be a full-blown sequel to the excellent Symphonia. There will also be some GC-GBA link-up lovin' between the two Nintendo versions. We demand a European release, Namco!

Nintendo have announced the release date for their, ahem, universally panned Kirby's Air Ride. February 26th is the date for Europe. Toshihiro Nagoshi, head of Sega's Amusement Vision, has told EDGE that the team are working on three new titles. He stated that they are completely new games, and will not be seqels of any sort. Let's hope the GameCube isn't forgotten- and given AV's close co-operation with Nintendo, most recently on the stupendous F-Zero GX, that seems all the less likely. Meanwhile, Sega have shown Samurai Jack, a new game based on the Cartoon Network show of the same name. It's on all three main consoles. We'll reserve judgement on this one.

Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green, the brand-new GBA updates of the classic, original Pokemon games, have gone on sale in Japan. The games are compatible with Nintendo's upcoming wireless GBA link-up adapter- so, no more irritatingly loose link-up leads to content with anymore, then. The games sold an astonishing half a million copies in their first day on sale- proving, conclusively, that the Japanese have lost precisely none of their insatiable appetite for the Pocket Monsters. We'll have more information on this one, soon. Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, the hugely anticipated FF offshoot from Game Designers Studio, the new company financed from Hiroshi Yamauchi's Q Fund, is to come to Europe with some excellent freebies. With every collector's edition of the game sold, a GBA-GC link-up lead will be bundled free. As if that wasn't enough, when you pre-order the game through participating retailers, you'll be given a Crystal Chronicles soundtrack CD gratis.

Nintendo will be releasing an expansion disc for their popular rhythm game, Donkey Konga. Not much is known at the time on the details of the disc, but it will contain new songs and be released in 2004 in Japan. We don't yet know if the game is set for a European release, let alone the expansion disk. The smart money is on the Euro version (if it is forthcoming at all) containing the expansion disk.

Well, I think we'll leave it there, then. Check back next week for another edition! As ever, your queries, comments or complaints are welcome at my email address below.

Sl�n

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