Nintendo hits 5 million online users

Not only is the Wii chasing the 360 in console units, but the DS is now chasing Xbox Live in number of online users. AT GDC 2007 we reported that Xbox Live had hit 6 million users and that Nintendo WFC was at 2 million. Well, now Nintendo's online service for the DS alone is at over 5 million users now. So, Nintendo is rapidly catching up to Xbox Live. And now that Pokemon Battle Revolution, Mario Strikers, and possibly Metroid Prime 3 are coming online for the Wii this summer, they could actually catch Microsoft. However, a month after Metroid, Microsoft will fire back with Halo 3, so even if Nintendo does catch them, it could be short-lived. But, you never know. And after all, some nice E3 announcements this July could possibly turn the tides as well. So, we'll just have to wait and see what happens from here on out.

DOA Movie Trailer

Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't think they would go far enough into the production to come out with a trailer yet. But hey, maybe this is one game movie that might actually hit theaters. But don't hold you breath, just because theirs a trailer, doesn't mean it'll come to theaters, it could be cut back to DVD-release only, but I already heard stuff about it being confirmed for June, so you never know. And for you perverts out there, prepare to be disappointed. It's rated PG-13, meaning no nudity. Here's the trailer, anyway:

Super Smash Brothers Brawl Update

Update: Nintendo will be updating the site daily for an unspecified period of time.

The official website for the upcoming Super Smash Brothers game had just undergone a major update, revealing more information about the game's characters, courses, and the completely long list of composers. It also revealed the background music for the revamped "Battlefield" course, which will also possibly become the menu theme for brawl.

We're definitely due for a new podcast episode.... Good thing I have a 5-day weekend from school this week! :P

Bigger PS3.... Smaller Cost

At last, the final launch details for the PS3 launch in South Korea have been announced. Now, even if you aren't living in South Korea, it's interesting to certain differences between theirs and the current one on the market.

In Korea, only one PS3 will launch on June 16, 2007, for only $554 (strange price for a launch). And not only is it $50 cheaper than the US PlayStation 3, but the Korean version also features an 80 gigabyte hard drive! That's 20 Gigabytes more than the US. Aside from that and PAL games, it's just like the USA's PS3. Which really does not make any sense at all. Too bad Lik-Sang shut down... :(

Unfortunately, no plans for a North Korean PS3 launch have yet been announced.

Red Steel Soundtrack now Available

For the 1st time Ubisoft has digitally released the soundtracks for one of its video games. Despite all of the great games they have produced they chose to release the soundtrack for Red Steel. Though in my opinion, they're just trying to re-hype the already poor FPS, so that the likely sequel will become a bit more welcome. The soundtrack is currently available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store for $9.99 (or $0.99 a track for 22 tracks). They CD will also be available for purchase on May 29. The Red Steel soundtrack can be viewed on the iTunes Music Store at:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=250390506&s=143441

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 Announced

From the headline, you probably immediately think that we're gonna have another terrible button masher with the DBZ license on it, from Atari. Well, that would be true, had it been any other Dragon Ball Z game, but games from the Budokai series, have usually been pretty good! To ensure you that this could actually be a good game, let me pull a quote out for you. G4, the kings of mocking Dragon Ball Z said this when reviewing Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 for the Wii, "Believe it or not, this [Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2] is one of the better games for the Wii." They later called the game, the best fighting game of 2006.

(I can't believe I just plugged G4)

But anyway, back on topic, Atari has just announced that they are developing Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 for both the Wii and PS2 (not PS3). It has been confirmed that over 20 new characters will be joining the lineup the of 120 existing characters from the previous installment, along with a handful of new sagas added in. They also said they will be making some new courses for the game as well.

We may also be expecting some changes to the wii control scheme, from when Emily Anadu, Senior Product Manager from Atari said, "Each year, the developers refine the game to bring fans closer to feeling like they are actually playing the show."

We'll bring in more info on the game, as it breaks. The game currently has an estimated release date for this holiday season.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Date Announced

Originally marked down as a wii launch title, Nintendo now has a final date on what may be one of the best shooters of this year along with Halo 3. As it turns out Nintendo's 1st Wii FPS is going to be available a month before Halo 3, slated for a final release date of August 20, 2007. However, nothing else concerning the game has yet to have been announced. Though nothing has yet been said concerning the possibility of online play (though I'm still expecting it).

Nintendo has also stated at the same time, that Super Mario Strikers: Charged for the Wii will be available July 30, 2007. Nintendo has also just released a trailer for the game which will be added to the podcast feed very soon (as long as you can find it, along with the swarm of Halo 3 BETA videos going up).

Why is Pokémon popular!?

Remember back, almost ten years ago......
Almost everywhere you looked, there was Poké-fever! Trading Cards, Board Games, TV shows, Movies..... it was taking over! But the one thing, that REALLY was the shining point of pokémon, was the release of the Pokémon video games (version Red and Blue).
After a few years, the fever died down a bit, when some people started to consider the show, "kiddish". Some kids were made fun of a bit and trading cards weren't as hot of an item.
Though the trading cards did pick up some popularity, upon the release of the Nintendo e-reader, it was short-cut. But nobody, for some reason, ever through away their old cards.... perhaps they were fans in denial.

And now, here we are in thew year 2007, over a decade since the "Pocket Monsters" were introduced in Japan. And now, upon the release of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, the hype considerably picked up again! But this time, it wasn't because of the TV show or trading cards. It was because of a single game (or rather a pair of games, which was essentially the same game).

Now Pokémon Diamond and Pearl have sold an almost unheard of 2 million copies after only a week on the shelves! (Wow, a game has beat a console's sales....) So, is Pokémon really just as popular as before, is it a phaze, or is it perhaps even BIGGER than before? Well, we here at GamersCast are wondering the same thing (so perhaps we shouldn't make shallow jokes during our reviews of the game.....?). So, we will soon be having a special episode (or maybe just a mini-episode) of GamersCast, posing these questions. The episode will have debates, a mobile edition of GamersCast, and we'll unveil a brand-new user interactive segment to the show! Get ready for it soon, and also be on the look-out for GamersCast's reviews of Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl.

Halo 3 News (BETA and Release Date)

The release date for the highly anticipated Halo 3 has been announced! Halo 3 will come out September 25 in the U.S and will come out in Europe on September 26. The multi-player beta is up so if you have Crackdown or got lucky DOWNLOAD IT. Also in June a Halo 3 Zune will arrive with Halo videos and music already loaded on it.

Footnote from Matt

Also, I just wanted to say, that I am gonna be attacking the podcast feed with loads of videos from the Halo 3 BETA for a while. So, if you weren't lucky enough to get the BETA yourself, you'll still be able to experience it (sorta.)

Xbox Live Spring Update Is Finally Here

The Xbox Live spring update is finally here!!!!! If you have an Xbox 360 the next time you log on to Xbox Live it will ask you to get this update. So far I think the update is pretty cool. So if you have Xbox 360 with Xbox Live get it NOW!!!!!!!!