Ah, who knew Samus would be so pretty with her hair down... or her suit off? (Then again, how many people thought Samus was a guy until the suit came off? This writer shamefully raises his hand - please don't kill me...) Let First 4 Figures do justice to her with this new poly-stone figure of Metroid Prime 2 Echoes (and Super Smash Bros. Brawl) Zero Suit Samus.

We're talking about the same guys who crafted Samus with her trademark Suit (TM) on, as well as Skull Kid with his trademark Mask (TM) on, so expect the same level of quality with Zero Suit Samus. Now if she'd only let her hair down...

SCARCITY WARNING: Production of statue limited to 2,500 pieces worldwide, sold online and through speciality stores. Suggested retail price of US$ 109.99, available in the third quarter of 2007 (after June).

Over at the VoIP Service Blog, they've compiled a few ways to use the DS for free WiFi VoIP calls. It's actually pretty easy to have WiFi voice chat with your friends. This list is just a few of the common ways.

• VoiceChatClient. The VoIP Service Blog linked back to our previous article on Infantile Paralysiser's WiFi VoiceChatClient v1.5. This homebrew not only lets you have voice chat, it also has an added bonus: whatever you scribble on your touchpad can be sent to the other person. To run this homebrew you will need modified firmware or cards that allow you to run homebrew.
• HelloDS. Alias-Zero, using Stephen Stair's WiFi Lib, has this VoIP application at the NDS Emu website. It is a proof-of-concept, and an update still has to appear. Like VoiceChatClient, it requires modified firmware or a passthrough device.
• Metroid Prime: Hunters. As we reported way back in February of 2006, Metroid Prime: Hunters has a VoIP feature. So you can use this game to chat. Just meet up with your buddy in the pre-game lobby and chat away.
• DSpeak. DSpeak is Nintendo's VoIP solution. It was demonstrated at E3 2005, but it's still a no-show until now. When (or if) it does come out, it will allow in-game and out-of-game chat.

Now you know. So chat away.

Attention NDS newbies! If you're new to the whole homebrew scene (because you got a DS or DS Lite for Christmas), just check out the helpful FAQs and tutorials at our forum at the NDS section of forums.qj.net, and they should help you figure out the ins and outs of Flash Cards and firmwares (you can download homebrew there or at dl.qj.net).

  

We would have expected an unarmored Samus to come out for NST's Metroid Prime line of collectibles, but we're pleasantly surprised to see this statue instead. Gamers everywhere, have a look at Trace, the newest offering in First 4 Figures' series of collectible statues.

Coming from the Metroid Prime Hunters storyline, Trace is a Kriken, an alien sent by his race to search for a new world for the Kriken to take over. Trace's objective drives him to not only find a suitable planet for his people to subjugate, but a powerful weapon that will let him return to his people a hero.

The figure itself is 10.5 inches tall, and will have a limited run of 1,500 statues, selling for US$ 89.99 each. It'd probably look great with the company's armored Samus collectible, but I'm tempted to see Trace making kissy-faces at Fierce Deity Link, just for the laugh factor. In any case, if you've got a hankering for a long-term investment, this is probably a good item to get. Enjoy!

  

At around 8 AM (EST), Nintendo WiFi.com was attacked by hackers. The leaderboards / high scores went down. As you can see in the image above (left), it looks like the usernames have either been taken down or have been lost on the Metroid Prime Hunters gaming hub.

Why was it hacked? According to online buzz and gossip, the hackers' main intention was to make Nintendo improve their security. Wow. If that's true, that's a strong and very effective way to get their point across.

We went over and looked at the site again. Things seem to be working fine, for now (pictured above, right). Scores are back up.

Of course, we felt like snooping around. We looked at their Tech Support pages. Sometimes, when a site goes down, there's something on the Tech Support pages that explains the when and why and how of the site downtime. Nothing there, though. Anybody know for sure anything else about what happened?

Buy: [Metroid Prime Hunters]

Based on the Metroid Prime series, First 4 Figures has come up with concept art for its future Samus figurines. They've now released the prototypes of their Samus Aran figurines in two variations: the Varia Suit (above) and the Gravity Suit (below).

Both are made with high-quality poly-stone, carefully hand painted with metallic paint, and will be available during the fourth quarter of this year. Hey, better be quick because the Gravity Suit is just limited to a production run of 250 pieces. Each figurine costs $99.99 and has a 11 in base, plus it comes with a card of authenticity. Cool, huh?

These are just the first two in First 4 Figures' suit series, which would eventually include the Light Suit, Dark Suit, and Phazon Suit. So, in case they come out with other new suits (or even figures of other characters), watch this space for updates!

Nintendo of Australia held its "Ultimate Bounty Hunter" tournament to find some of the best Metroid Prime Hunters players in the country. Eight contestants gathered in the Half Pipe room in Hoyts Melbourne Central for the chance to win $1000 and the title of "Ultimate Bounty Hunter."

Many spectators joined them and took part in fun Metroid-themed SSBM free-for-alls, like playing Samus dittos on Brinstar! After that was over, they watched the finalists go at it in the semi-finals down to the final match. After the three Sylux and one Trace users went at it, a winner emerged. Congratulations to Jeff Hawthorne aka Juice Boy on his victory. Hopefully, you'll be picking up Metroid Prime 3: Corruption with some of that money!

We got word from badam that Nintendo's DS Download Station website has been updated and now shows a "Series 1 Line-Up" and "Series 2 Line-Up". For you curious folks out there, the two-series breakdown is not really a mystery. It just means that if you want to download certain games, you'd have to go to appropriate participating game stores.

The Series 1 Line-Up includes Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!, Mario Kart DS, True Swing Golf, Tetris DS, Meteos, Metroid Prime Hunters Movies, and Pokemon Trozei. These titles are available for download exclusively at Target stores.

The Series Two Line-Up is available at GameStop, Game Crazy, and Best Buy stores. Titles in this line-up includes Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!, Magnetica, Over the Hedge Movie. Tetris DS, X-Men: The Official Game Movie, Metroid Prime Hunters, and Big Brain Academy. These titles will also be available at Wal-Mart and Toys 'R' Us stores.

Nintendo of America's Andy has interviewed some of the top Metroid Prime Hunters players (at the time of the article) and basically asked them all - "What makes you tick?" This is a very interesting read for those MPH beginners who wish to be on the top of the game, or would just like to see how these MPH addicted players play! With most of the interviewed players having over 1000 wins, I wonder how they got that much free time! Well, NOA has focused the search and interview on one player, but also interviewed other high-ranking players at that time. Some of the questions asked what te player's favorite character was, what there favorite mode was and what advice they had for everyone else wishing to obtain high-ranking glory. See the full interview questions and responses after the jump!

Nintendo has announced its plans to hold a championship game for Metroid Prime Hunters players. This recently released game for the DS was received with much excitement by UK gamers, so HMV will be holding this tournament to look for the best bounty hunter in the country.

Set to take place on May 20 at HMV stores in Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester and London, the winner of the “Hunt Is On Tournament” will win an all-expenses paid trip to Seattle where s/he'll meet the makers of the game. Runners-up on the other hand, will be receiving HMV vouchers which they can spend on other products from any HMV store (hopefully, they'll buy Nintendo products).

The tournament will run from 11 am to 1 pm for practice, 1 pm to 4 pm for local heats, and 4pm onwards for the grand finals. All four HMV stores across UK will be linked via video so players will be able to see who they're playing against.

A couple of months back, First 4 Figures announced that they were making figurines based on The Legend of Zelda series. Today, they revealed that they're working on Metroid figurines. Statues for Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, and Metroid Prime Hunters have been announced, but no word on whether or not they'll be using characters from the other Metroid titles. They will be creating both single 9 - 12 inch figures and large VS dioramas. The single figurines will cost bet wen $85 and $120 (USD) while the dioramas will cost upwards of $200 (USD). The currently revealed figurine are:

Metroid Prime

• Varia Suit Samus

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

• Dark Suit Samus
• Light Suit Samus

Metroid Prime Hunters

• Samus
• Kanden
• Trace
• Spire
• Noxus
• Sylux
• Weavel

More will likely be revealed in the future. The statues will be available for preview at E3 next week. For now, we have been provided a render of the Samus statue. It looks like it's either the Varia Suit model from Metroid Prime or the Samus model from Metroid Prime Hunters.