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LemmingsAh, the fond memories of playing Lemmings back in the day. In fact, I can recall playing the game over a decade ago, along with Oregon Trail. If you’re looking to try your skills at the classic Lemmings title, click the link below. Good luck manipulating those little buggers and preventing them from falling to their untimely demise.


Read More | Elizium


New Super Mario Bros.

A bunch of new screenshots of the yet-untitled New Super Mario Bros. Nintendo DS game have surfaced. I tried the game at last year’s E3 and honestly wasn’t very impressed. Of course, E3 ‘05 was a while ago so hopefully the game’s much better now. And hey, we’re talking about Nintendo here. Head on over to Kotaku for a host of more images.


Read More | Kotaku


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Nintendo DS Downloads

Good news for DS owners today:

Owners of the dual-screen DS who go near the kiosks will automatically receive a notice on their devices offering game demos, movie trailers and other content for temporary download. The information will be erased from the DS once it’s turned off.

Nintendo also said it was adding voice chat to the sci-fi action game “Metroid Prime: Hunters,” available March 20. Players who join up for multiplayer battles over Nintendo’s wireless Internet service will be able to talk to each other through the system’s built-in microphone before and after games, but not during, said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America Inc.‘s executive vice president of sales and marketing.

We’d like to hear more details on the demos. How many demos will we be seeing? Obviously, they will disappear once you turn off the DS, unless they decide to sell some sort of memory module. Any way you cut it though, the DS’s future is brighter than ever.


Read More | Nintendo


Latest Gear Live Videos

Halo 2 VistaFor all of you who have been looking forward to playing Halo 2 on your souped up PC, it looks like you’ll have to update to Windows Vista first - that is, once it comes out. I doubt the Windows Vista requirement will be much of a downer for those who have been anticipating Halo 2 on the PC, since they’d most likely be updating to Windows Vista anyway. Additionally, it’s looking like Halo 2 won’t make it out on PC until the end of the year at the soonest - which would be a good two years after the game debuted on the Xbox.


Read More | BBC


flashphonef2k
If you’re a fan of Skype, then you might be interested in the MPLAT Flashphone F2K.  With a size similar to that of a USB memory stick, the F2K includes a built-in soundcard and flash memory in sizes from 128MB up to 512MB.  Operation couldn’t be easier as you simply plug it into an available USB port, plug in the headphones and launch Skype.  All necessary software remains on the Flashphone, and no traces of activity are left behind on the host computer which makes it ideal for the paranoid among us.  Obviously this isn’t the most ideal method for making a call as it requires access to a computer, but if you don’t have the monetary resources for a PDA, or are just a diehard Skype user, the F2K may just do the trick.  Be sure and read the review though as upgrading the software on the F2K may be akin to rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time - not impossible, just difficult.


Read More | MPLAT via Top Tech News


OnStarGM announced an upgraded feature for their OnStar service yesterday at the Chicago Auto Show.  OnStar has been around for over a decade and is actually a pretty decent service for those folks who own a GM vehicle.  You can do everything from gett live, real-time directions, make restaurant reservations and even have your email read to you all via a live operator.  OnStar is now looking to make that process simpler by allowing you to download the information to your vehicle.  How they plan to accomplish this is not entirely clear though.

“With some software changes in our module, and without a screen in the vehicle, the OnStar advisor can download the information to the system in your car,” said OnStar president Chet Huber. “As you drive and approach the next turn, the radio will mute and the driving instructions come on to tell you to turn right or left”

We say any upgrade to this service is a good thing.  If you have a GM vehicle and haven’t used the OnStar features lately,  you should get re-acquainted. 

Read More | Information Week


Xbox 360 Segmentation

I have always admired the prowess that my friend Jake Ludington has when it comes to digital media. This guy knows his stuff. After fiddling around with my network to get my Xbox 360 running off of it’s own segment along with the Media Center PC, and separating all other network traffic onto it’s own segment, I found that things were much improved as it pertained to streaming high-definition content from my Media Center PC to the Xbox 360. Jake put together a nice tutorial on how to do this, and he isn’t even using 802.11a:

802.11a is the standard Microsoft is recommending, but it’s not necessary. My own home network is segmented with an Xbox 360 on one 802.11g access point and all other wireless devices are on a second 802.11g access point. My wired Media Center successfully streams the 1080p HD content available from Microsoft’s WMV HD Showcase without any hiccups.

Hardcore. Head on over to Jake’s tutorial for the full article.


Read More | MediaBlab


Kuppersbusch Honeycomb Cooktop

So you’ve got your swank kitchen - hand-rubbed cherry cabinets, as much stainless steel as you can get away with, monster SubZero fridge, dual Miele dishwashers, dedicated wine cooler/warmer and you’re still using a run-of-the-mill built-in cooktop.  Try something a little spiffier like the Kuppersbusch Electric Honeycomb Cooktop.  The system uses a series of honeycomb-shaped pads that are able to be recessed flush with the surface of your counter-top.  One of the honeycomb shapes works as a touch-sensitive interface, and with no unsightly knobs or buttons, cleanup is a snap.  The heating elements can be arranged into a wide variety of layouts, are made of a ceramic glass material, and are expandable up to 6 total elements.  A child-safety interlock ensures that while it will still be easy enough for you to set fire to dinner (and potentially your house), your children will at least be semi-challenged to do the same.  List pricing for the control interface is $1750, with the heating elements going for between $550 and $650 depending on the type.


Read More | Kuppersbusch USA via Trendir


DescriptionWell all know that if Nintendo wants to gain a significant amount of market-share in the upcoming console war, they’ve gotta change their image - and fast. Perrin Kaplan, VP of Marketing and Corporate Affairs, discusses the industry, Nintendo, and its “new look” in the linked Forbes article.

The major difference for Nintendo right now (indeed, the key to its “new look”) is its “Blue Ocean” philosophy—something that executive vp of sales and marketing Reggie Fils-Aime has discussed many times now. “Inside Nintendo, we call our strategy ‘Blue Ocean.’ This is in contrast to a ‘Red Ocean.’ Seeing a Blue Ocean is the notion of creating a market where there initially was none—going out where nobody has yet gone. Red Ocean is what our competitors do—heated competition where sales are finite and the product is fairly predictable,” Kaplan explained. “We’re making games that are expanding our base of consumers in Japan and America. Yes, those who’ve always played games are still playing, but we’ve got people who’ve never played to start loving it with titles like Nintendogs, Animal Crossing and Brain Games. These games are Blue Ocean in action.”

So what do you think of this ‘Blue Ocen’ strategy? Will it actually work?


Read More | Forbes


Nintendo DS Lite

If you have been looking forward to seeing the more intimate side of the Nintendo DS Lite, here are a few pictures we came across of the product. Make the jump to see more shots of the real thing.

Click to continue reading Nintendo DS Lite Shots


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