After hearing the story of the Swede teen collapsing after 24 hours of playing Wrath of the Lich King, this news comes to no surprise for me. World of Warcraft's second expansion pack has sliced its way to second place in the UK charts, topped only by fellow newcomer, Call of Duty: World at War. In other news, LittleBigPlanet shot down form fourth place to 19th place. Ouch.

The rest of the top UK games after the link!

Majesco Entertainment has announced that they have finally shipped Cake Mania for the Nintendo DS. Cake Mania is originally an online game developed by Sandlot Games, which proved to be very popular, as evidenced by the 35 million downloads it has under its belt.

Here, players will assume the character of Jill who returns home from culinary school only to find out that her grandparents' bakery was shut down because of the bigger competition in the form of Mega-Mart. The mission, then, is to try and get the bakery to re-open by upgrading Jill's kitchen with new baking/cooking technology as well as serving her difficult customers.

Says Ken Gold, Marketing VP for Majesco, "By including the entire original online game plus the expansion pack onto the game card... we're offering Nintendo DS owners an excellent game at an outstanding value."

Cake Mania is now available across U.S. for a suggested retail price of US$ 19.99.

We have good news for the readers among us today. If you've been reading "The Sword of Oz" interactive ebook by author Darren Reid, then you'll be happy to know that in light of the publication's success, "The Sword of Oz: The Emerald Ring" expansion pack will be released this February 19, and will also be free for download.

"The Sword of Oz" - the first  "Dark Witches of Oz" trilogy novels - predate the original Wizard of Oz story by L. Frank Baum, and allows readers to make decision for story protagonist Arthur Gale.

The ebook launched back on January 19 was met with considerable success - "Sword of Oz" was noted to have picked up 10,000 downloads, with a little more than 50 % of console users accessing the free download.

The original novel and its expansion pack are currently available at the NextGenBooks website (accesible on the read link), with the novels readable on the PC, Wii, DS, PS3, and PSP. Also expect to see a possible novelized version of "The Sword of Oz" in the near future.

For the DS-lover who is always on the go and who needs to be online constantly, you can now lighten your travelling load and leave your laptop behind since your DS can now pretty much do the job for you.

Introducing, the brand-new official Nintendo DS Browser. Currently retailing for £30 (roughly $56), the Nintendo DS Browser comes bundled with a Memory Expansion Pak which fits into the GBA slot to give your DS the extra memory boost that the Browser will require. In the meantime, owners of different versions of the DS won't have to worry as two versions will be released to accommodate the older Nintendo DS and the slimmer DS Lite. This product will be aveilable by October 6.

Moving on to the details of the browser itself though, it is based on the multi-system web browser Opera, though this version has been tailor-fitted to the DS in order to make full use of its dual screens and touch screen functions. In the meantime, you can connect to the internet via Wi-Fi networks and hotspots, or by riding on the free Nintendo wi-fi clouds in your area. Checking your email, blogging, shopping online, and surfing is also made convenient for the user as you will only need to drag your stylus on the touchscreen as if it was a mouse pointer. As for entering text, you can also choose to use either the virtual keyboard on your screen, or handwriting recognition.

It also works like a regular browser where you can choose to save bookmarks and passwords, thanks to its built-in memory. Manipulating settings such as proxies and ports is also possible, and you can also lock your browser with a password if you're worried about security.

As for viewing webpages, you can select from two viewing options which are namely the Overview Mode, where you see a scaled-down version of the page and you can just zoom in to the part you want to check with the use of the touchscreen, and the SRR or Small Screen Rendering Mode which adjusts the web page to fit vertically on both screens so that you don't have to scroll horizontally.

Now the next question which we are dying to have answered would be if it has custom Nintendo wallpapers, pointers and screensavers. Afterall, everyone still wants desktop goodies.

If players of The Sims found interesting companions through playing The Sims: Unleashed, those who play the sequel to the wildly popular game will have an equivalent set of friends - from the dog world, this time - in the new expansion pack, The Sims 2: Pets.

Not only will you guys have the chance to choose from a variety of existing breeds and hot designer mixes, you'll also be able to customise your pets by choosing their body shape, unique markings, and even their personality (one area where games like these put real pets in the shade). As in real life, your Sims' pet also needs to be taken care of and trained. You don't want to come home to a clawed-up new couch, don't you? You still have to put your foot forward and let your new pet know who's the master of the house.

Of course, you don't want to be just a drill sergeant to your pets, so you'll also want to teach them to shake hands, roll over and play dead, spend some play time with them, or perhaps go shopping together and grab some cool pet accessories that will make the neighbor's dog go green with envy. All of which you can do in this game.

The Sims 2: Pets will be available on the PC, PS2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS. A version for the PSP will follow. What's interesting is that there will be unique features for each game platform.

The DS version will have a "Manage a Pet Care Center" feature where you can pamper, preen and nurse your pet at your very own Pet Care Center. You can also earn extra Simoleans by selling pet products in your shiny new pet shop.

The PSP, PS2, and GameCube versions allow you to take your pet for a stroll at the Central Town Park. And while you're at it, you can drop by the Town Center and shop 'till your pet drops.

PSP Screens:

 

DS Screens: