Nintendork

It's the kind of game i'd usually be attracted to. But it never got me hooked. Probably won't give this a looksie either.

Play.com overestimate their prices to avoid dissapointment. They also have to cover delivery costs which are inclusive of the price. I imagine it'll go down to £15 by launch. In Japan when you buy 5,000 Wii points ($60 or so) you get a free classic controller. It's limited to the first 50,000 people or so. Just use Google you lazy bums: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Points

Starbucks.

I'll go find my copy now, hopefully I'll have a bookmark in it. I loved these books so hard. It made me feel like I was young again. Chapter 6, Lighted Fliers. Still kinda exploring the 'other' world Lyra has just stepped into with that kid she finds if I'm not mistaken. Might go back a few chapters if I am disorientated from the time lapse.

Metal Gear is over-rated. It's in my top 5 games ever.. but it's' still not worth more than 9.

Night watch, the russian equivalent of the Washowski brothers as far as I'm concerned. Godly cinematography with really bold concepts. Very very rad. Well done Russia. 9/10.

Will finish the second book (after a 2 year break from it) tomorrow. Hopefully have the third one done by the time the film is out.

$20 €20 £15 (including VAT) Seems pretty fair.

Audiophiles do.

Don't be too hasty with your bidding.. Sony stuff isn't always best but I'd say this looks like an okay bit of kit. Have a search around (AVForum.co.uk) and see what else people recommend that's in your price range if you're not succesful on that one.

I thought Da Vinci was crap, I walked out after about an hour. Never knew what happened to that weird monk guy. Anyway just a heads up film buffs. Film Four tonight, 10:40 or 11:40 if you have access to Film Four +1. Night Watch. It's meant to be good (I stayed in just to catch it)

Virgin Manchester has one, but after the first day they didn't have the staff to monitor it. You can't use it unless there are staff demonstrating it because you could easily run off with a £30 remote. Same situation when you want to listen to vinyl in my local Virgin because people run off with the turntable needles (apparently they're worth a bit) With it being so busy in town I doubt stores will have the time to personally supervise every kid who just wants to have a play. It will probably be a case of 'are they considering buying it?' if so then it could be worth a sale.

It's simulated, not true 5.1 I think 4 sound channels are supported and it's like encrypted over 2 channels. Your DVD player might output Pro Logic II but I don't think it's capable of decoding that. It's quite an archaic system I've heard.. most modern amplifiers (what you need) don't even support it as standard. I think you'll need to pick up a Pro Logic II amplifier off eBay or Cash Converters. Can't imagine they cost much, but with the digital revolution you'd be lucky to find one in your local Bennets/equivalent. edit: Quick eBay search found this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sony-STR-DE495-Receiver-from-Richer-Sounds_W0QQitemZ120056369090QQihZ002QQcategoryZ122650QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Richer Sounds are pretty trustworthy, but judging from the prices this is gonna set you back towards the top end of 2 figures, maybe even 3 figures.

I think 2nd party means they're just not exclusive. Buying Sega would make sense, but despite them churning out some shitty ass games lately in Japan they have a huge stake in the arcade market. I'm not sure it would be a friendly take-over as Sega are pretty chummy with Sony right now. There's that Dragon game coming out. I was pretty pissed when Sony Europe and Microsoft bought out every UK design house. Nintendo has virtually no creation presence in Europe.

It's routed from your ISP server's IP address. You must have an ISP operatingf in Germany partially. T-mobile for example stands for Telekomm mobile a german firm, but they operate in the UK.

Most people at hands on demos initially just put the Wiimote in the right hand and the nunchuck in the left. People noticed how it felt like you had to cross arms to make the sword swing right so they just flipped the display over. It was like they'd hold the nunchuck slightly lower and do all the sword action with the arm crossed above it. The GameCube remains traditional in the sense that Link uses his sword in game with the left hand. As each Link is a different person, I don't see what the big deal about keeping the tradition is. Some Zelda purists complained that suddenly he's become right handed.

Your hands are identical, and the Wiimote is nearly perfectly symetrical.. so that awkward feeling should be overcome in a matter of weeks. It was awkward holding a toothbrush at first too.

If they are as clean cut as the CG mock ups I'll be buying one. I just don't want big 2mm white stripes around each edge of the graphic. The Japanese rising sun one looks like a winner to me. I'd only be willing to pay £5 though, and they're £8 before shipping.

But surely your right hand which is used for more precise things such as writing and playing instruments (for example) would be better for the analogue stick? It's kinda weird that we decided to have controllers that way around don't you think?

This is kinda stupid, but a few years ago I decided to just start learning to brush my teeth with my left hand. Why? Just for the hell of it.. I sucked at first, but I kept at it. Now I'm just as good with my left as I am with my right hand.. which is now free to hold other things in the morning. Zelda has quite controversially been flipped horizontally to ensure that the average gamer can use Link's sword with the right hand. Apparently it's 'natural'. I can't write for love nor money with my left hand.. but I'm thinking about learning the Wiimote with my left hand. Are you all going for Wiimote in the right and Nunchuck in the left? From first experiences even most left handed writers are going for this set up against their natural instinct.

Nintendo's advantage is they own game development, control production of hardware and software, and they market the product. It's a one stop shop which means everything is streamlined, super fast and super profitable. It's like Take2 Interactive + Sony Computer Entertainment + The factory that makes PlayStations. To put it into perspective.

It is tough to compare games from different genres.. it's hard for me to say Apples and Oranges.. they're still games. Gears of War is the pinnacle of the FPS genre.. it has consolidated everything and mopped up pretty much every issue the genre had. It kinda deserves a decent 9 in my eyes, which could well be rounded up to a 10. For a lot of people it's teetering somewhere between 9.0 and 9.5. Zelda could well be the best Zelda, but it would have been the best a few years ago too.. and other games have progressed. Which is why I don't think it deserved 10/10.. it's a good 9 though. Burnout 3.. that's shocking. I loved Burnout 2, it was a throwaway title for me though. I'd have given it an 8 or 9. In general that series never has deserved a perfect score. This idea that you can compare Zelda and Burnout in the same way you compare Okami to Zelda is not right though. In my eyes.

Nintendo has a pretty healthy DS software market.. while I think £29.99 is a bit pricey for a portable game which could have as few as 6 hours gameplay in it.. translators cost £££. I am hoping someday Nintendo UK will become an independant from Nintendo Europe meaning we will get games faster and hopefully the savings will be past on to us. It's a dream. With the blatantly going to be huge, I think software and pre-owned sales will cause prices to drop.. of course AAA titles will hold their value. But I see Wii games being less than £30 soon after launch new.

Miyamoto and Iwata specifically personally oversee every single Nintendo published titles.. their creative input varies hugely from game to game. And as far as I know.. Miyamoto simply made the announcement about Wii Health pack, I didn't hear anything from him saying he's personally 'working' on it. My source: http://www.cubed3.com/news/6113/1/All_the_Wii%20and%20DS_Details_from_Japan

I wouldn't call it a saviour, from 2D to 3D we've lived in a golden age (as I keep saying) and I really don't see it getting any better. If there was a chart I would say we've plateaued with the (end of) PSone and part of the PS2's lifecycle. The DS and Wii have given it another 5 years, but it's not going to get any better. I'll probably give up gaming after this generation for good. I'm suprised I'm even getting a Wii.. if it weren't for that controller I would be rattling off the last few DS games.