A new music game for the Nintendo Wii and DS from Disney Interactive Studios will be arriving on the 2008 holidays, and you Rock Band (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3) and Guitar Hero fans might want to take a look at this promising title. Disney's Fall Line Studio, in collaboration with Radial Music from London, will be releasing Ultimate Band to make your rock star dreams come true. Check out the details in the full article.

Homebrew coder Alex has just released version 3.6 of the homebrew game PuzzleManiak. This release consists mainly of bug fixes which were brought to the dev's attention by PuzzleManiak users. Check out the full article for the complete list of changes.



Download: PuzzleManiak v3.6

The official website of the Nintendo DS title Blue Dragon Plus from game developers Mistwalker and Brownie Brown Inc. is now up. This newest game in the Blue Dragon series was announced recently in Shonen Jump so details about Blue Dragon Plus are still scarce. Check out the full article to read up on what we do know about the game.

During the Electronic Arts pre-TGS press event, EA Japan's lead designer Takahiro Murakami confirmed that the popular god game Populous is currently in development. During the event, Murakami - also the designer for SimCity DS - was finally able to announce that the remake of Peter Molyneux and Bullfrog's video game will heading to the Nintendo DS.

He also told the press that Populous DS has only been in production for six months, so there's still no release date for the game; neither are there screenshots or video clips of Populous DS. Fortunately, Murakami was able to shed light on some important game details. He said that like the original Populous computer game, players will be playing the role of a deity who's responsible for nurturing a civilization and shaping the landscape in their attempt to win against another civilization under the rule of another deity. In this Nintendo DS remake of the game though, multiple deities will be featured. Some new powers had also been added to make the video game more interesting.

The Nintendo DS version will do away with the book layout and have a new design for the game. Murakami assured though that the game will remain recognizable as the original Populous. The interface has been revamped to accommodate the handheld's dual screen. Players can use either the D-pad or the stylus in the game. Populous DS will also have a story mode with a tutorial to help out the player.

The most interesting feature of Populous DS is perhaps the addition of a multiplayer battle mode where up to four players can compete. How the battles will play out was not discussed in detail, but EA's Murakami mentioned that, "Just because you move your controller or stylus fast doesn't mean you'll win; you'll have to think."

So will Populous for the Nintendo DS be as promising as the original version? We'll have to wait until Electronic Arts shows us more assets and gameplay details before we can finally say that Populous DS is worth another Origins Award for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game - or any award equivalent to it.

With Day 1 of the E3 Business and Media Summit over, there sure are lots of major announcements, demos, and preview videos and screens to get excited over. The Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots trailers were finally shown, along with some other teaser and demo videos like the Gears of War PC and Rock Band live demos, among many others. Initial screenshots of highly anticipated games were also released during Day 1.

Among those who've revealed much to the E3 audience in their July 11 press conferences are Nintendo Company Ltd., Sony Computer Entertainment, Microsoft Corp., Electronic Arts (EA), Konami Corporation, Activision, and Midway Games.

One of the biggest news during Sony's press conference was delivered by Kaz Hirai himself. He announced the new and re-designed PlayStation Portable (also being coined PSPSlim) which is said to be 19% slimmer and 33% lighter than the current version being sold. Microsoft also gave the audience a treat with a Gears of War PC live demo. Nintendo on the other hand, confirmed the release dates of some of its upcoming games, and also announced its Wii Fit video game and Wii Balancing Board.

We're certain you know most of what happened in Day 1 of the E3 Media and Business Summit 2007, but if you don't, we might as well have a recap of the day. Click on the links below and read up! The Full Article link contains the complete list of our E3 coverage, so make sure to also check it out.


Breaking News:

Blasting onto PCs: Gears of War, among other things
E3 Update: Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots to be the grand finale of the series, says Kojima
E3 Updates from Sony: News on PS3 exclusives
Confirmed: Unreal Tournament 3 to be timed PS3 exclusive


Previews and first glances:

E3 update: Soul Calibur Legends E3 2007 video
Killzone 2 E3 2007 trailer
Rock Band E3 videos: trailer and live demo from Peter Moore
E3 2007 Update: Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer
E3: Gears of War PC live demo during Microsoft
E3 2007: LittleBigPlanet screenshots
E3: Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 to be "even nuttier"
Konami releases first screenshots of Silent Hill 5 for E3


That's it from us for now, but rest assured we'll be giving you the latest on the E3 Media and Business Summit's Day 2. Stay tuned.

The eve of the E3 Media and Business Summit was very busy, to say the least. Game teasers, trailers, developer line-ups for different consoles, and what-nots came pouring down on us, mere audiences to this invitation-only event. But because we have to keep all of you updated with what's happening without confusing you with too much info, we'll be providing a summary of sorts at the end of each conference day.

With the E3 Media and Business Summit to be attended by Entertainment Software Association (ESA) members and non-members, various retailers, developer partners, industry contacts, and the media, there will surely be tons of gaming info you'll have to digest.

We'll keep things simple for you all by clumping seemingly similar bits of news together. Day 1 of the summit will be starting in a few hours, and there'll definitely be more news to take in, so here's a quick recap of what has been revealed by various companies and developers pre-E3.

Breaking news:

Square Enix's E3 2007 game line-up
StarCraft 2 to make appearance at E3
Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron surprise at E3
Bring the Fires of Liberation home
Konami reveals blockbuster line-up for E3
MGS 4 trailer coming to E3, PSN downloadable soon
D3Publisher of America unwraps E3 2007 line-up
Sega announces its E3 2007 game line-up

Previews and first glances:

Porsche lends a hand in NFS: ProStreet development
Video: Auran set to let loose its Fury on E3
Video: NHL '08 ready for E3
New Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 trailer video
New Conan trailer video
Smashing: Burnout Paradise's E3 2007 gameplay trailer


That's just part of the list that we have, so click on Full Article to see the rest. Be sure to check back with us as we'll be posting some more E3 Media and Business Summit news as they come. Oh, heck, it's already Day 1.

 

If Ms. Kidman making fun of herself wasn't motivation enough for you to get More Brain Training, then maybe two more Aussie celebrities might do the trick. Couple Kieren and Symantha Perkins will also be joining the extensive campaign for More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima: How Old Is Your Brain?

Nintendo Australia is certainly picking a diverse group of people to promote its product. Kieren Perkins was a former Olympic swimmer, with several gold and silver medals under his belt. He is currently a member of Swimming Australia, and is considered an Australian Living Treasure. His wife, Symantha Perkins, is mother to their 3 children; she's also a TV personality, and a charity ambassador.

More Brain Training, a sequel to Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? and part of Nintendo's Touch! Generations campaign, is scheduled for a July 5 release in Australia.

  

Namco Bandai will be launching two new Digimon games that will surely exploit the concept of duality of both the Nintendo DS and the games' storyline. Given that there really are two sides to every story, then those will be coming from the Light Fang team of Sunshine district and the Night Crow team of Dark Moon district. Still not getting what we mean? Let's explain.

In the two new games Namco Bandai will be releasing, Digimon World: Dawn and Digimon World: Dusk, players will take on the role of a rookie Digimon Tamer. They will have to travel, collect, train, and evolve Digimon while trying to uncover the truth behind the huge earthquake that damaged the access points to the Digital World.

In Digimon World: Dawn, the player is a member of the Light Fang team of Sunshine district. There are rumors that the mysterious occurrences were caused by the Night Crow team. He has to find out the truth to what happened, and restore the city. As a member of the Night Crow team of Dark Moon district in Digimon World: Dusk, the player is also tasked to find out the truth about the same earthquake which was supposedly caused by the Light Fang team. He is also tasked to restore the city.

No doubt that the stories of the two worlds are intertwined, but Namco Bandai doesn't stopped there with the similarities. Digimon World: Dusk and Dawn will also have the same features.

• Over 400 Digimon from 8 species to collect, tame, train, and evolve
• Unique and rare Digimon in each game that can only be obtained through wireless communication with the other game version
• A new world map for each version that show information on each dungeon and the player's location
• New and Improved Digifarm
• Managing Digimon's locations during 3 on 5 turn-based battles is now possible
• Unique storyline and characters
• Wi-Fi battles with friends possible over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
• "Tamer" points obtained after Wi-Fi battles can be traded for rare items

The games' screenshots, logos, and concept art at the Full Article.

 

Julian Eggebrecht, Factor 5 president and lead director, has been announced as the opening keynote speaker for the GC Developers Conference (GCDC) 2007 in Leipzig (also known as the Leipzig Games Convention). Details of his speech have yet to be revealed, but we can expect it to be interesting at the very least. Factor 5 is currently working on the PS3-exclusive game Lair.

Peter Molyneux, Lionhead Studios' president, will also be giving a keynote focusing on the company's classic games. The GCDC 2007 will be held from August 20 to 22 in Leipzig, Germany. Other GCDC 2007 international speakers will include:

• Jason Manley (Massive Black)
• Christopher Schmitz, (10Tacle Studios)
• Jennifer MacLean (Comcast Interactive Media)
• Dr. Michael Wimmer (The University of Vienna)
• Alexander Fernández (Streamline Studios)
• Cindy Armstrong (Webzen)
• Amir Taaki (Crystalspace)
• Jeff Strain (ArenaNet)
• Vlad Ihora (Telia Sonora)
• Barbara Lippe (Avaloop IT Solutions)
• Pamela Kato (The GamerX)
• Uwe Nikl (Level 3)
• Matt Firor (Ultra Mega Games)
• Konstantin Ewald (Osborne Clarke)

  

Homebrew developer Stravingo thought of calling this homebrew game "Blow 'EM All", but for obvious reasons, the dev decided against it. After all, this homebrew game isn't about those cute little creatures - it's entirely different. And if there's one game we can liken this to, it has to be Minesweeper.

In the game, you just have to uncover all the bombs because you're a "bomb disposal expert". Although the game looks almost like other homebrew games out there for the Nintendo DS (DSMinesweeper, Minesweeper Flags DS, etc.), Ka-Bo0m has features that are unique and, as Stravingo put it, original. Here are the game's unique features (from version 0.1 and version 0.2):

• Cool colorful graphics
• 3 modes of play - Normal, Double, and Huge
• Blow on the mic to extinguish a bomb (in a second or "You loose!")
• Management of high scores
• DLDI support
• Animated menu and other additional animations
• Sound effects
• Zooming and rotation of flagstones

And here are the controls:

• Stylet: to turn over a flagstone
• L or R + Stylet: to mark a flagstone
• Pad: scroll of the ground in double mode or huge
• Start: to stop the part to return to the menu
• Microphone: to blow to extinguish a bomb!

In the latest version of Ka-Bo0m, Stravingo fixed minor bugs, cleaned the graphics, and added one major feature which competitive players will be happy about. The dev said you can now send your best scores on leaderboard.palib.info and then see it posted here. "For that, you must cuts configured WiFI one your DS and you cuts to Be closed to year Access Point to the Internet (PC with WiFi modem gold WiFi card gold WiFi USB dongle)," said Stravingo.

So what are you waiting for? Time to dispose of those bombs and post your best time on the online Ka-Bo0m leaderboards. Download Ka-Bo0m below and don't forget to enjoy playing the game.

Download: Ka-Bo0m v0.3