Vol. 2 Number 5

DS gets its SP

So the rumours were all true. Everybody has been waiting with baited breath for any official news on a redesign of the DS and finally Nintendo have hit us with this, the all-new Nintendo DS Lite. It's sleeker, it's sexier and more importantly it's lighter, in more ways than one. The new shape and size of the DS Lite means its lighter in weight, in-fact by a whole 58 grams, not only that but the brightness of the screens can be changed with up to 4 different brightness settings. So indeed light - or should that be lite? (cringe)

Once opened up its quite noticeable that the face buttons and the d-pad have become thicker, which is nice for those people with large thumbs who hit more than one button at a time. The button re-arrangement doesn't stop there as the Start and Select buttons have changed to a nice round shape and have been moved to below the face buttons. Thankfully though the power button has been moved. Even though you had to hold the power button down before to turn off the system it still seemed to be one of the few things that people had any concerns with but the new position of being on the side and the fact it is now a slide switch shows that Nintendo listen to there people. Amazingly though the new styling of the DS Lite still brings us the same sized screens from the original DS.

So you like the look of it then well this mini beast is looking at a March 2nd release in Japan and it will initially be available in three colours, Crystal White, Ice Blue, and Enamel Navy. Each colour will come with its own custom charger with colour matching wrist strap, stylus and GBA port cover. The stylus has also had a size change but unlike the DS itself it has actually got a bit thicker and is now roughly 1cm longer. It seems that the DS Lite will be going for a rather fetching 16,800 yen, which roughly translates as E120 or �81. I believe that if the sales of the ordinary DS is anything to go by then when this miniature version is released I don't think it will be easy to get your hands on for a while. Lets just hope that Nintendo will start selling it soon over here so that we too can have a nice new shiny and sexy DS.

>Tecmo have announced plans to release their ever popular (well maybe in Japan) Pangya Golf series as a launch title for the Revolution. Currently known as Skatto Golf Pangya, its previous titles have done extremely well and has proved quite popular on the PC.
>Browsing the internet on your DS, bring it on I say. At a conference in Japan which was meant to show off the new DS Lite to the public, Nintendo decided to show off some information about the Opera based web browser for the DS. All you need to play is a wifi connection and thats it, you're on surfing the internet for real including access to web based e-mail accounts. Set for release in Japan for 3800yen in June.
>The Revolution, not wanting to miss out on all the fun, has been promised its own web browser. Wether this is also an Opera based web browser and how you go about buying it is all so far unknown.
>Now not only can we surf the net but also watch TV with the new Digital Media Tuner Card for the DS. Partnering with 1seg, Nintendo have managed to come up with a stunningly small card which slots rather neatly under the DS and into the DS card slot, except for the antenna which can placed whever you like as long as you still get a signal. The big question is will this make out of Japan; we certainly do hope so, stay with us for more information.
>Reggie Fils-Aime, Vice president of Sales at Nintendo (just in case you don't know what he actually does) has confimed in an interview with Spike TV that the next installment of the Zelda series, Twilight Princess, will be released in the Autumn. With it originally planed to be out for a November 2005 release, we can only hope that the year long delay could only mean the most ultimate Zelda game ever created.

2,000,000;
The number of copies of Nintendogs sold in Europe alone.
3;
The number of colours available on the DS Lite launch.
3.7;
The number of DS consoles, in millions, sold in Europe to date.
2.4;
The number of PSP consoles, in millions, sold in Europe to date.
5;
The number of times I have tried to write this before my computer crashed.

Well so this brings us to the hottest releases for the next two weeks; what will you be buying?

24th February
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble (DS) - Joe makes his debut on Nintendo's hand held along with his sister Jasmine, stylus fun is to be had by all.
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble (GC) - the same day and a different console but still the same zany and colourful action for our hero Joe.

March 3rd
FIFA Street 2 (GC) - Once again the imaginative guys at EA make another sequel this time based on the rather interesting FIFA street.

Currently our forums are buzzing with excitement at the moment so why not join in and make your own statements.

- With all the news recently surrounding the new DS Lite why not head to its unoffical official thread for discussion.
- Not just the DS but also the Revolution; keep check of Revolution games or discuss the possibility of a new Nintendo franchise at E3.
- The new Zelda game is quite a talking point, one of our own forum members started the official thread here.

So here we are at the close of another Digest. I'm sure this isn't a new experience to most of you but for me the first time writing it and I enjoyed every moment of it. If for any reason you believe I have incorrect information then please get in contact with me via the address below.

Until next time.

Wildo
[email protected]