Trigger-happy European DS owners can now go on a sharp shooting spree with the release of Point Blank DS from Namco Bandai Games and Atari. The classic arcade shoot-em-up's rapid-fire gameplay becomes even more addictive with the stylus as your main weapon to hit that elusive bulls-eye.

With 40 different stages and gameplay modes, we're pretty sure that your DS screen will get no rest from all that stylus action. The four difficulty settings ensure that all types of gamers will be able to enjoy the game. If you're feeling a bit competitive, you can challenge another player via the wireless multiplayer mode. Great way to settle disputes, don't you think?

Point Blank DS is now available across Europe.

Why aren't we surprised at all? We did see this coming. And it's all good. While the past videogame incarnations of Harry Potter were forgettable, we're eager to see what the next-gen versions have to offer. We can already picture players swishing and flicking the Wiimote while uttering "Alohamora!"

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix videogame will be the first in the franchise to be developed for the next-gen consoles. EA and Warner Bros. promise an accurate representation of the events surrounding J.K. Rowlings' fifth book, which happens to be Harry Potter's fifth year at Hogwarts.

The game will allow players to explore Hogwarts and take on missions presented in the book/movie.

Playable characters include Harry Potter (of course!), Dumbledore, and Sirius Black. Too bad, Ron and Hermione are non-playable. But we're pretty sure they'll get some exposure throughout the game.

The game is slated for a July 2007 release to coincide with the film. It'll also be released for the PSP, PS2, Gameboy Advance, and Windows PC.

You know there is a huge demand for puzzle games for handheld consoles when a third party publisher enters the market with another mind-bending puzzle collection. We're talking about Agetec's and Japanese game studio Nikoli's Brain Buster Puzzle Pak for the Nintendo DS.

You may have unlocked all of Dr. Kawashima's puzzles in Brain Age, but surely there's room for more mental exercises to keep that brain in tip top shape. With Brain Buster Puzzle Pak, you get hundreds of puzzles, including the insanely popular Sudoku and Japan's latest craze, Kakuro. To make solving the puzzles even more challenging, Agetec added asteroids and monsters whose sole objective is to distract you while you work on a  puzzle. Zapping them out earns you special hints.

Brain Buster Puzzle Pak is guaranteed to give your brain a complete workout. While we wait for its release in February 2007, here are some screenshots to keep you warmed up.

  

Here's something you won't find anywhere else - except of course if you live in France or some place in Europe. Jeux-France has unearthed two exclusive offers from Leclerc, which we assume is a French store with a regularly updated and circulated catalogue. (Thanks to Babelfish for the loose translation).

The two exclusive offers would appeal to gamers who've yet to purchase a pink or black DS Lite, or who've yet to own Sonic Rush or Project Rub. The latter title strengthens our belief that the bundles are Europe-bound.

The first bundle includes a pink DS Lite, the naughty game Project Rub (a.k.a Feel the Magic: XY/XX in North America), and a t-shirt for €129.99 (US$ 165). The second bundle includes a black DS Lite, Sonic Rush game, and a Sonic figure for €169.99 (US$ 216).

Though these bundles are worth checking out, we still wonder what compelled Leclerc to offer games that have been in the market for almost a year now.

Micro Machines V4 (MMv4) will soon strut its stuff on the DS. The game has had several incarnations on different gaming consoles, but it's still pretty new to handheld systems. Cubed3 (C3) caught up with Codemasters and Supersonic and got some interesting info about the game and its future.

No doubt, Micro Machines has quite a big following and there's a pressure for both developer and publisher to deliver fresh content without taking away the nostalgia factor. As such, the developers turned their focus on what made the title a success - multiplayer options. But even with such objective, the team ensures that the single player game is as good as the multiplayer game.

The team worked to get the gameplay and graphics on the DS as close as possible to other versions of the game. Of course, the addition of the touch screen controls and Wi-Fi play serve as the major come on of MMv4. Unfortunately, the team decided against Wi-Fi Internet races. Implementing it would have compromised the gameplay too much because of latency/technical issues.

Aside from the various game modes (battle, races, chases, time trials, checkpoint games), the DS version will feature the trading mode where players can swap cars using DS wireless capabilities.

Testing the handheld waters might just open the doors for a next-gen console appearance. Codemasters is not ruling out the possibility of a Wii version, especially since the controls can be adapted for the Wiimote and Nunchuk. Producer Jamie Firth even offered some ideas, "Maybe 'pushing' the cars around? Maybe an accelerator and then you 'turn' the cars with your chucks? I’m sure all budding games designers out there would want to chip in with some ideas!"

We smell fun and excitement in there, don't wii?

Pre-Order: [Micro Machines V4 for DS]

Tharandur has given the famous bubble puzzle game a Naruto spin on the DS with Naruto Magical Drop v1.0.

As with the the Neo-Geo and Super Nintendo versions, the game is played in a Tetris-style box. Random colored bubbles descend from the top screen, while Naruto (that's you!) can pick up the bubbles and drop them to form at least three same-colored bubble on a single column. This homebrew version is really fast-paced. One wrong move and the onslaught of descending bubbles will render you helpless, leading to your defeat.

While Uzumaki Naruto takes center stage, you can also choose to play as Uchija Sasuke or Hatake Kakashi. Of course, their respective "powers" wouldn't contribute to the success of your bubble-dropping skills, but still, it's good to know there are two more character options.

The A button enables you to pick a bubble and the B button lets you drop the bubbles (but we're guessing you already know that). Don't be fooled by the simple controls though, because the game is no walk in the park.

Those who have tried the Beta version of the game would agree that there have been improvements in the animation and fluidity. However, there seems to be a bug that's causing the bubbles to disappear from view. Restarting the game seems to solve the problem. We're not sure if this is an isolated case as Tharandur didn't mention it in the readme file.

Naruto Magical Drop works with SC, M3, and G6 media cards. If using an emulator, it's recommended that you use Dualis, but it also works ok on DeSMuMe and NeeDS.

Download: [Naruto Magical Drop v1.0]

Infantile Paralysiser has updated Image Viewer to version 0.25. As the name suggests, the Image Viewer allows users to organize photos and images stored in the DS (via media card, of course). This is particularly useful to DS owners who've amassed a cartload of images in a short span of time.

Changes in Image Viewer v0.25 (as translated by babelfish) are as follows:

• Even if the reduction ratio was changed, the cursor position was maintained.
• The reduction ratio change icon was brought together in the pop-up menu.
• The function was allocated in UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT and L button (Or, A/B/X/Y and R button) respectively.
• The preservation folder of the IPK file can be specified with img2ipk.exe.
• When a thumbnail mode was begun, the cursor position was corrected in the screen inside.
• A small bug was corrected.
• The user interface was changed a little.

The developer has also released the source code for this cool homebrew application.

Download: [Image Viewer v0.26+2]
Download: [Image Viewer v0.26 - source code]

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UPDATE: Infantile Paralysiser fixed the bug that causes a mirror image if the photo is rotated by 90 degrees in the slide show mode. Changes are reflected in Image Viewer v0.26+2.

Bjoern Giesler just updated his DS homebrew application DSFTP to version 2.3. A full-pledged FTP server, DSFTP has the ability to boot .nds file directly from FTP prompt. It also allows users to add an FTP server to their own programs. This speeds up the entire build process since it allows a new version of a program to be uploaded to the user's own running program, eliminating the need to swap flash cards.

The app has been tested on SuperCard CF and SD, so if you're using other media storage devices, the app may not work properly.

DSFTP v2.3 changelog:

• UNZP added (submitted by Bertrand Augereau)
• DS->PC file transfer sped up a lot (patch to DSWifi submitted by masscat)
• Linked with Devkit R18 again (fixed some showstopper bugs)
• More bugfixes

Make sure to read the installation instructions and configurations here.

A note from the developer: This software is provided as-is, without any express or implicit warranty. Don't expect too much, and don't blame me if it wrecks your flash cart, sets your house on fire and rapes your dog. You have been warned.

Download: [DSFTP v2.3]

Kaktus|621 has updated his homebrew application NoNameDS to version 1.5. To those who are not familiar with the homebrew, it's a collection of useful applications and games for the DS. It comes in very handy for DS owners who love their homebrew. Unfortunately, it's in German, so you need to brush up on your German skills to fully appreciate the app.

The latest version primarily reflects Menu bugs fixes. If you've been following this app since day one, you'd notice that it now has a shiny new menu. Kaktus|621 made things simple by just putting two icons instead of the menu list in previous versions.

The game IcyTower has had some problems ever since it was added to the app. The good news is that the game now works on version 1.5. However, it's still in its Beta phase because of the following:

• No Point System
• No Time Limit/Auto Scroll (So you can fall down and nothing happens to you)
• No random Level and for now only 100 Steps

We're pretty sure future versions of the game will address the said problems, and then we'll real fun playing the game. Now, if only we can speak German...

Download: [NoNameDS v1.5]

Darkmath, over at the Player Advance forum, has released his DS homebrew called Shmup 3D v0.0.1. As the name suggests, it's a shooter game where you pilot a vessel and try to blow up enemies to smithereens. Of course, it takes a lot of dodging skills to remain alive in the game.

Since the game is still in Alpha version, expect more improvements in future releases. As it is, the game has the makings of a truly addictive shoot-em-up game.

Use the directional pad to move around. To shoot enemies down, hit the A button. Interestingly, the B button allows you toggle views, pretty much like zooming in and zooming out.

Darkmath has noted that the game freezes on GBAMP. If you encounter the same problem using your media cards, make sure you report it via the comments section. We've tried it on SD and it works perfectly.

Download: [Shmup 3D v0.0.1]