Jan 10, 2008 Release dates - like hearts, promises and Xbox 360s - are made to be broken. Games scheduled for next week invariably slide into next month, next month into next year, next year into next decade... and next decade into, well, never. We must resign ourselves to this rule or live in perpetual disappointment. But indulge and imagine for a moment. What if those dates were always hit? What if developer and publisher promises were always kept? What if forum predictions were always ... » Read More

9 Jan 2008

What game names really mean

DS News | Nintendo DS

Jan 9, 2008 If you want to sell your product, you need a catchy name, something that immediately resonates with your intended audience. This is incredibly true in video games, an industry that began with no-nonsense names like "Combat" and "Pong." Today, with a global marketplace and niches to fill on a daily basis, game names have become increasingly cryptic, nonsensical or double-meaning in-jokes that about five people get. That's where this list comes in. By compiling information from ... » Read More

7 Jan 2008

The Top 7... Franchise Embarrassments

DS News | Nintendo DS

Jan 7, 2008 Every family's got one. The drunken brother-in-law. The cousin with a criminal record. The perverted uncle who hasn't been invited to reunions or holidays since his incident with the goat. Whatever the name and whatever the shame, we all know that one relative we're just not supposed to talk about. Every videogame franchise has one of these regrettable members as well. Fans and developers may try to ignore, forget or even erase its existence, but the stain will always remain. Here ... » Read More

7 Jan 2008

Meet the Class of 2008

DS News | Nintendo DS

7 Jan, 2008A new year of gaming stretches before us. A vast, virginal territory as limitless as the imagination of its creators. New worlds. New adventures. New experiences. And, of course, new heroes. While many virtual wrinklies - like Solid Snake, Sam Fisher and Ryu Hayabusa - are all set to return in 2008, they will be joined by a fresh-faced crop of contenders all looking to make their mark. But who are these heroic hopefuls and what can they bring to the arena of complex algorithms that ... » Read More

3 Jan 2008

GamesRadar's Anti-Awards 2007

DS News | Nintendo DS

Jan 3, 2008 A few weeks ago we crafted a best-of-the-year list, obeying internet trends and expectations like a good little website. Now it's time for awards that you actually want to read. We're calling out all the crap that pissed us (and you) off in 2007 and, just like last time, we're handing out high quality, gold-plated awards. This year, unlucky winners shamefully walk away with the soon-to-be-coveted, slightly oxymoronic "Golden Red Rings Award." Other, slightly less sucky losers get ... » Read More

31 Dec 2007

The Top 7... Gamers' New Year's resolutions

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 31, 2007 Congratulations, you survived 2007. Know what that means? Its time to invent a bunch of uninspired goals and ambitions for the coming year so that next year you can hate yourself for not accomplishing any of them. Its an awful tradition that probably shouldnt exist in any form, but this year were changing things. We set down the potent cocktails that we resolved to stop drinking last year and took some time to pen some realistic goals, ones we can really stick to. No, really. Our ... » Read More

28 Dec 2007

50 ways you've hit Rock Bottom - US Edition

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 28, 2007 Our UK brothers recently posted a guide to knowing when games are taking over your life. We thought wed take that idea one step further. Weve all been there before; some gaming experience wed never share - something so embarrassing we wouldnt disclose to anyone other than our private blogs. For every World of Warcraft wedding you usher on the weekends, theres a copy of Hannah Montana for the DS we had double-bagged at EB Games. Weve compiled a list of reasons that may or may not ... » Read More

27 Dec 2007

Are games more violent today?

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 27, 2007 "No longer are games simply about shooting aliens and destroying asteroids, but instead the top selling games reward players for killing police officers, maiming elderly persons, running over pedestrians and committing despicable acts of murder and torture upon women and racial minorities," says California State Senator, Leland Yee in an opinion piece on his website. It's still a popular stance for politicians and strangers to videogames to take - this idea that gory games like ... » Read More

26 Dec 2007

10 features we want in online shooters

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 26, 2007 Multiplayer shooters have advanced stupendously since the likes of Doom and Quake. Contextual actions, unlockable weapons, team and objective based combat, physics, sprawling maps, class systems and a slew of other complexities have been crammed into modern frag-fests. Nevertheless, there are still a few features and concepts wed like to see perfected before the inevitable next step involving wires poking out of our brain stems. Potentialities like Call of Duty 5, Halo 4, Rainbow ... » Read More

25 Dec 2007

Every Christmas Top 10 from the last 20 years

DS News | Nintendo DS

25 Dec, 2007 The Christmas gaming charts are a special thing. Not only are they a celebration of the festive season's out-of-control consumerism, but they also show us which of the titles released during the intense pre-Chrimbo gaming avalanche have most successfully grabbed the attention of the masses. After all, it's the one time of the year when financial frivolity is king, when partners, friends and gene-pool sharing associates rush out to purchase the software-based gift that their ... » Read More

24 Dec 2007

The Top 7... Christmas moments

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 24, 2007 Christmas is tomorrow, and that means those of you who celebrate the holiday are just hours away from opening the free stuff you've been looking forward to all year. In the spirit of the season, we extend our warmest wishes that you find at least one of the games we've recommended under the tree, and that you don't get stuck with any well-intentioned but misguided crap. And to keep you occupied for a few minutes while you wait for the hours to tick away, we've gone through years ... » Read More

21 Dec 2007

The best guides to the biggest games

DS News | Nintendo DS

Still searching for the skulls in Halo 3? How about Intelligence Items from Call of Duty 4? Maybe you're more of a Nintendo gamer and have finally gotten around to playing Metroid Prime 3 and Phantom Hourglass. Whatever your poison, puzzle or problem, we've got a guide for you. Simply gaze below for complete guides on everything from BioShock's plasmids to shiny Pokemon. ... » Read More

21 Dec 2007

Trailer Trash Best of 2007

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 21, 2007 As we come to the end of one of the hottest years on record, join us for a look back at the game trailers that teased, prodded, and provoked us into a frenzy. Here, at year's end, let us look back at the many ways that trailers enrich our lives and be thankful for these precious moments we've shared. Amidst all the hype and hustle of an industry gone mad with profits, these are the trailers that truly stood out from the crowd. They're all here, the dizzying walkthroughs, the ... » Read More

21 Dec 2007

OMFG News of the Year 2007

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 21, 2007 If, like us, you've found the past 12 months have streaked by like a greased missile, leaving you not a quiet moment to take stock of what's actually happened, then we have the answer. Or at least, we have the answer for you if the question on your lips was "what were the biggest OhMyGod news stories of 2007?". So on the following pages you'll find this year's most OMFG moments. The announcements that sent us crosseyed with excitement, the scandals that boggled our poor brains, ... » Read More

20 Dec 2007

GamesRadar's seemingly annual Platinum Chalice...

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 20, 2007 Another year, another collection of meaningless awards for games you already knew were good. So, instead of desperately waiting for other people to re-affirm opinions you already had, why not read a whole choking list of awards that celebrate 2007 in a slightly different way? Last year's Potentially Annual Platinum Chalice awards were met with such deafening acclaim (you saw the parade, right?) that we simply had to follow through and make them a grand, yearly tradition like ... » Read More

20 Dec 2007

Iwata named Next Generation's man of the year

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 20, 2007 Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has been named the year's most important individual in Next Generation's Top 25 People of 2007 list. Iwata beat out Activision president Robert Kotick, BioShock mastermind Ken Levine and Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopoulos to the top spot. Even Ubisoft's Jade Raymond makes it somewhere down the bottom of the ... » Read More

20 Dec 2007

Our videogame Christmas cards, rated

DS News | Nintendo DS

[UPDATE, Dec 21 - Check out the great slab'o'chocolate NCSoft sent us, and Free Radical's sacrilicious Bible-inspired offering!] Dec 20, 2007 Christmas is, as we all should know by now, a time for giving. This year we've been given a whole raft of greetings cards from the developers and publishers that make videogaming so great. Some good, some not, but all wishing us well this festive season. Ahhhh. But what do we have to give? Wait. We've got it. In line with videogame journalism's ... » Read More

19 Dec 2007

Hollywood heavyweight goes game developer

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 19, 2007 Heavyweight movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer is teaming up with MTV Games to produce new entertainment properties that will begin life as games. "Video games represent a new and innovative medium for what we've always tried to do, which is to tell great stories. But this medium is unique in that it gives the player control over how those stories unfold," Bruckheimer (reportedly) says. "I look forward to working with MTV Games to create new original game stories, always looking ... » Read More

18 Dec 2007

E3 back from the dead?

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 18, 2007 The Entertainment Software Association has confirmed that the E3 Media & Business Summit will be returning back to its historic digs at the Los Angeles Convention Center next year. Is the 'old' super-sized E3 back from the dead? Not quite. “We are very much not going back to the old E3,” Rich Taylor, senior vice president of communications and research for the ESA, told Kotaku. “I think we are all on the same page for the industry on what we want those days in ... » Read More

18 Dec 2007

Nintendo contradicts itself over DS stock

DS News | Nintendo DS

Dec 18, 2007 The Nintendo of America boss with plenty to say, Reggie Fils-Aime, has today admitted that the stunning sales figures of the DS is leading to retailers' concern over supply. This somewhat contradicts previous comments made by Fils-Aime, who stated that despite the phenomenal sales, "any consumer that wants a Nintendo DS this holiday season will have one." But now hes saying: "The DS continues to perform exceptionally well, with some retailers voicing concerns about DS inventory ... » Read More