With the DSi now officially out in the wild, Japanese site Impress Watch decided to pick one up and dissect its contents, taking an in-depth look at the electronic innards of Nintendo’s third-generation handheld. While the most obvious and noticeable additions are the refined stereo speakers and slightly larger LCD screens, there is one significant change elsewhere that may be more difficult to spot. That difference being the DSi CPU, which sports a revision identifier stamped on it that reads “TWL,” with a chip finalization date of 2007. By contrast, the CPU housed inside of the DS and DS Lite was produced in 2004 and both models had near-identical revision identifiers, “NTR” and “NTR B,” respectively.

Seeing as Nintendo decided to add extra RAM in the DSi, it’s plausible that the CPU clock speed was bumped up as well, presumably to allow for smoother operation in the handheld’s built-in internet browser. It’s only a theory, though. We won’t know for sure until the more experienced hardware gurus take a look at the unit.

Hit the jump for additional photos. more »

When Capcom said Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix was due out “very soon,” they meant it. According to Chris “Kramez” Kramer, the 2D PSN and XBLA fighter is currently undergoing certification and if no hitches are encountered along the way, we can expect a release in November, hopefully just in time for Thanksgiving.

There’s no word on pricing yet, but expect further details to be revealed within the coming weeks.

Kramez’s Blog [Capcom]

Live in the state of California? You’re in luck, as Insomniac Games is hosting a community day on November 7, inviting fans of ages 17 or older to tour its Los Angeles-based studio. Among other fun activities, you’ll have the opportunity to engage in competitive multiplayer sessions against the development team, as well as participate in a panel discussion regarding Resistance 2. Interested folks can send an email over to RSVP@insomniacgames.com for further details on the event.

Resistance 2 Midnight Launch Event, Insomniac Community Day Details [PS Blog]

Electronic Arts and developer Criterion Games today announced Burnout Paradise The Ultimate Box, a special edition version of the original racing hit that packs all the previously released downloadable content and an all-new Burnout Paradise Party mode on a single disc.

According to EA, Paradise Party is an “offline multiplayer mode designed to allow up to eight friends to ‘pass-the-pad’ in dozens of Burnout challenges.” For those who already own a copy of Paradise, the same mode will be offered over PSN and XBLM as paid DLC. more »

Surprise, surprise. According to a user over at Chinese site Hacken, who managed to lay hands on a DSi ahead of its November 1 street date, the new handheld is incompatible with all current slot-1 flash carts. Various cart brands were tested, from the popular R4 to CycloDS, with each repeatedly failing to auto boot. Only one cart in particular, the EZ Flash V, was detected by the DSi (in other words, it was recognized in the main menu screen). However, when launched, it simply throws an error message.

All in all, not a surprise, especially considering Nintendo has pressed legal action against the manufactures of these flash carts over the past couple years. On the upside, this means piracy will be a non-issue for now. Unfortunately, it also means legit homebrew applications will no longer run until a workaround is found.

[分享] 道高一尺，NDSi 正式封殺燒錄卡 [Hacken]

In celebration of Halloween, Namco Bandai today sent over a brand-new trailer and screenshots from the upcoming Bottlerocket-developed PS3 and Xbox 360 title Splatterhouse. The clip, which unfortunately is lacking in gameplay footage, can be found after the break. more »

Shortly after the multimedia-packed DSi was announced, Reggie Fils-Aime was asked when the handheld would be hitting North America, to which he replied “well into 2009.” Thankfully, that vague release window has since been narrowed down by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who expects that the handheld will arrive in overseas markets this summer, not beyond fall 2009.

Specific plans will be unveiled by our local subsidiaries, but an autumn or year-end launch would probably be too late.

Iwata does not expect economic slowdown to hamper sales of the DSi either, noting that he has yet to “[see] even the slightest sign that overseas DS and Wii demand is being affected by the economy.” He’s right, too — sales of Nintendo hardware increased considerably from August to September.

Nintendo sees overseas DSi launch by next summer [Reuters]

Electronic Arts sent word today that an open beta for the Phenomic-developed card based RTS title BattleForge will kick off on November 7. To access the beta, interested parties can head on over to the game’s official website to register, or pre-order BattleForge from any participating retailer, such as GameStop, EBGames.

”After three years in development, we are very excited to open the game to a mass audience and see how people play. It’s going to be a great process watching players experience the revolutionary concept of creating their own armies and teaming up on a massive scale in RTS,” said Volker Wertich, Creative Director.

The full game is scheduled to ship in early 2009 for PC.

Albeit late, this week’s North American PlayStation Store has finally gone live, and it’s chock full of quality demos. Mirror’s Edge, Tom Clancy’s EndWar, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 and Alone In The Dark: Inferno are all up for grabs as we speak. In addition to a time- limited Halloween sale on SIREN: Blood Curse, other notable additions include three add-on packs for Meier’s Civilization Revolution, along with the usual selection of Rock Band and Guitar Hero: World Tour tracks. Pricing and full details after the jump. more »

Amidst troubled times in the economic sector, mega-publisher Electronic Arts today released financial results for the second quarter of its 2009 fiscal year, and the results are far from uplifting. Despite net revenue increasing to $894 million, the company incurred a $310 million net loss, up from $195 million the previous year.

“Considering the slow down at retail we’ve seen in October, we are cautious in the short term,” said John Riccitiello, Chief Executive Officer. “Longer term, we are very bullish on the game sector overall and on EA in particular. The industry is growing double-digits on the strength of three new game consoles and increases in the number of homes with broadband internet connections. EA is well positioned to benefit from these technology drivers due to the strength of our creative studios and our broad collection of game properties–from The Sims, to Spore and Madden NFL, to Warhammer Online.”

more »