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‘Consoles’ Stories

Sony PS3 250GB hits Japan February 18

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Jan 14th 2010 No Comments

Sony Japan may have released the first PS3 with a 250GB hard-drive - in the shape of the Final Fantasy XIII limited edition back in September 2009 - but until now they've not had a mainstream version; that's all changing as of February 18th. The company have announced that the Sony PlayStation 3 250GB will arrive in Japan for 34,980 yen ($382).

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Next-Gen Nintendo DS to boost graphics, get motion sensors

By Chris Davies on Wednesday, Jan 6th 2010 No Comments

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has dropped a few details as to the hardware capabilities of the next-gen Nintendo DS, though the executive wouldn’t go so far as to pinpoint when we might expect the handheld to be released. Speaking to Japanese paper Asahi Shimbun, Iwata confirmed that both graphical capabilities and alternative control methods were on the cards.

nintendo dsi xl

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Sony PS4 to use multi-core CPU not Cell?

By Satsuki Then on Monday, Dec 28th 2009 2 Comments

Sony are considering replacing the PS3's Cell architecture with a more mainstream multi-core processor in the PlayStation 4, according to PC Watch, after game developers have reported greater than average problems developing for the current-gen console. Based on rumors and speculation coming out of Japan, the company also considered - but decided against - a combination Cell/Intel Larrabee setup.

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IntoDream DIY handheld SEGA DreamCast [Video]

By Chris Davies on Tuesday, Dec 15th 2009 No Comments

It seems we’ll never tire of seeing full-sized consoles refettled into handheld casings, and that’s handy since gamers don’t seem to tire of attempting such miniturization. Today’s – the handiwork of Bacteria – is the IntoDream, and it takes the venerable SEGA DreamCast and packs it into a handheld with a 5-inch PSone LCD, official PAL DreamCast hardware and joystick from the Nintendo N64.

intodream portable dreamcast

Video demos after the cut

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Sony PS3 Slim flirted with SSDs or network storage

By Chris Davies on Monday, Dec 14th 2009 No Comments

If you want to know where Sony are going next with their PlayStation line, you could do worse than examining some of the decisions they made regarding the recent PS3 Slim refresh. According to a Tech-On! interview with Masayuki Chatani, who works in Sony's strategy planning department, the company considered both a switch to SSD or cloud-based storage to further shave bulk off the updated console.

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Nintendo slash Wii production in face of drooping sales

By Chris Davies on Wednesday, Dec 2nd 2009 No Comments

We can remember a time when parents were driven to horrible tears in the vain hope of finding a store with a Nintendo Wii in stock; now the company is apparently slashing production of the console after its recent dreary financial performance. According to Nikkei (subscription required), Nintendo has informed two Japanese suppliers that it intends to reduce the Wii production, a move that has apparently had an extreme impact on those suppliers' own profits.

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Tegra 2 confirmed for next-gen Nintendo DS say sources

By Chris Davies on Monday, Nov 16th 2009 No Comments

It’s almost as much fun speculating about new gaming hardware as it is playing on current-gen consoles, so color us intrigued at DigitalFoundry’s “credible sources” who are saying that the next-gen Nintendo DS will run NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 and that it’s “not unrealistic” that the handheld will out-grunt the current Nintendo Wii. Problem is, Sony’s next-gen PSP2 has also seen a few spilled details, and that’s looking even more impressive: think along the lines of potential GPU power in-between the original Xbox and the Xbox 360.

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BBC relaunch iPlayer as Wii Channel

By Chris Davies on Friday, Nov 13th 2009 No Comments

The BBC has announced that it will be "relaunching" the iPlayer streaming TV system on the Nintendo Wii, with the system now present as a dedicated Wii channel. While iPlayer access on the Wii has been possible since April 2008, the new iPlayer channel will apparently offer a "faster, high quality and improved viewing experience" according to Erik Huggers, direct of Future Media and Technology at the BBC.

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Nintendo DSi LL size comparison video with DSi & DS Lite

By Chris Davies on Friday, Oct 30th 2009 1 Comment

We already know that US and European gamers will have to wait until early next year before they can pick up a new Nintendo DSi XL, but with the Japanese launch of the DSi LL imminent the handheld has already had its first TV appearance. In the video you can see after the cut, TV Osaka demonstrate the new DSi LL and compare it against the existing Nintendo DSi. The outcome? Yep, it’s bigger.

nintendo dsi ll dsi ds lite size comparison 540x303

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Nintendo DSi LL with 4.2-inch displays official [Update: DSi XL for UK in Q1 2010]

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Oct 29th 2009 No Comments

Nintendo have officially announced their latest handheld console, and like the rumors suggested it packs larger displays than the DSi. The Nintendo DSi LL will drop in Japan on November 21st, complete with twin 4.2-inch displays (compared to the DSi’s two 3.25-inch displays); as before, the lower panel is a touchscreen.

Update: Nintendo UK have confirmed to Electricpig that the handheld will arrive in the UK come Q1 2010, as the Nintendo DSi XL. We’re guessing it’ll have the same name and launch schedule in the US, too, though nothing is official as yet. No word on pricing, either.

nintendo dsi ll size comparison 540x268