Looks like we’re going to be seeing another hand held from Sony sometime in the unknown future. What is even funnier is the fact that Sony is still up to their old games, taking ideas from Nintendo. Although that could be an unfair claim, we still don’t know exactly what this “Touchscreen Hand Held” can do… but we can only imagine. What surprises me even more is the fact that the patent was passed by the US Patent & Trademark Office with no problem.

Also the patent document shows that it was ex-Sony exec Phil Harrison who was the inventor for this device. Now that he’s with Infogrames, it’s really a wonder why and if Sony will still push this idea through the gate… I don’t know if it is just me but this just seems to be a lot more than a little bit fishy?

[via US Patent & Trademark Office]

The idea has been bandied about, dissected, contested and now it appears as though it will finally come to fruition: the DS, that plucky little multicolored portable, is set to overtake the PS2 in Japan sometime in early 2008.

For some, this milestone was a given, especially in light of the portable’s insane sales numbers thoughout late 2006 and all of 2007. According to an article at GameIndustry.biz, the hard facts are thus:

For the week ending December 2 the DS sold 124,627 units, up from 116,694 the previous week, while the Wii shifted 74,764, up from 54,362 in the week before. That brings the lifetime sales figure for the handheld console to 20,284,183 - at which rate it will overtake the PlayStation 2’s lifetime figure in the middle of January next year.

During this period, the two Nintendo consoles were the only ones to see an increase in the number of units sold.

Full Japanese hardware list below… (more…)

Sure, he wears sunglasses at night, but Team Ninja’s executive producer Tomonobu Itagaki’s got game, man. He’s also highly opinionated and confident and dresses like a Japanese Michael Jackson, which can put some people off, but any man that can turn the DS on its ear (literally) and deliver a touch-based Ninja Gaiden game is worth listening to for a spell or two.

This interview I found today at Gamasutra is one of those spells, because it represents how many developers are approaching the DS today.

Basically, the DS had Itagaki-san at hello. (more…)

Earlier today the ESRB gave Rockstar’s controversial Manhunt 2 a “M“ for mature. This announcement follows the debated July rating of AO. It is unclear at this time if Rockstar has toned the game down from it’s extremely violent state, or if the publics complaining caused the ESRB to give Manhunt 2 a second look. Either way, both Nintendo and Sony will now allow the title to be published for their respected consoles. Here is what Sam Houser, founder and executive producer of Rockstar games, had to say about today’s announcement.

“Manhunt 2 is important to us, and we’re glad it can finally be appreciated as a gaming experience. We love the horror genre. Manhunt 2 is a powerful piece of interactive story telling that is a unique video game experience. We think horror fans will love it.”

Manhunt 2 ships to the PS2, PSP, and Wii October 31^st. The title contains the following content: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content and Use of Drugs.

UPDATE: Apparently Rockstar Games did edit violence in Manhunt 2, but how much editing is still unknown.

Ok, so that headline is a tad misleading. I’ll come out and say that right away. But you have to forgive me for the slight deception, because Nintendo is selling more than 100,000 DS units per week and the Wii is now the prime minister. Ok, it’s not, but wouldn’t that be just the cutest little thing ever?

On a more serious and sane note, the Wii did sell 69,748 units, bringing the year-to-date total to over 1.6 million units.

Here are the full sales figures for the week ending June 3:

DSL: 123,140
Wii: 69,748
PSP: 26,358
PS2: 11,814
PS3: 8,998
Xbox 360: 2,219
GBM: 310
GBASP: 247
GC: 226
DS: 71
GBA: 16

And there is absolutely no truth whatsoever to the rumor I’m starting now that Japanese retailers are offering a free PS3 with every PS2 sold. None at all.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this, but I still love the shot.

The DS and Wii outsold the competition in that order yet again for the month of April; the DS selling a whopping 417K units with the Wii selling 360K units. GBA even managed to outsell the PS3 by 4,000 units at 84k. From a competitve console standpoint, the 360 sold an unimpressive 176K units considering the seven year old PS2 outsold it yet again. Oh, and Nintendo games made up the top four selling games last month. Impressive. How long before someone says “it will still fade?”

UPDATE: The PSP continues to sell surprisingly well at 183k units. Very interesting. Also, given slow “next-gen” sales (read: PS3, 360), how long before a Microsoft price drop puts the pressue on Nintendo, if at all?

Turtle power has its limits, apparently, but it’s still kicking on the Game Boy. Yes, the Game Boy.

The new TMNT movie-based game tanked on a variety of hand helds this week (3.4 PSP review, the 3.1 DS review), but then Gamespot goes and gives everyone in gaming a migraine with its 8.1 rating for the GBA version. If I could channel Cartman’s Kyle’s mother for a moment: Wha wha whaaaat?

Thing is, as Aeropause notes today, Ubisoft Montreal made all three!

There’s really no concrete reason for this TMNT post today; I’m not trying to point out that reviews are going bonkers (that’s a Wii-specific issue, IMO), nor am I trying to say that the GBA is making some kind of miraculous comeback (it’s not). This is just one of those times where the stars align and a movie-based hand held title scores big, and another great game drops for Nintendo fans out there to buy or rent. Is anyone buyin’, or are we all too shell shocked this morning?