Nintendo's DS handheld console will ship later this year and will be called the 'Nintendo DS' Even though the Dual Screen has been cut back to a single screen.

It also revealed the unit's final design - a sleeker, more elegant look than the shape shown at the E3 show earlier this year.

Nintendo maintains that the DS name, standing for 'dual screen', was just a codename, and didn't refer to the fact that it was rumoured to have dual screens.

But the name stuck so the console maker decided to keep it on the final version.

"Nintendo DS, originally chosen as the code name, has been selected as the official product name. The Nintendo DS name evokes the idea of a portable system with dual screens, providing the rationale for the final name." Company officials said today.

Looks like the boys at M$ may or may not be up to their own tricks. One of our faithfull readers sent in this article from an Australian News Magazine. C'mon people let's get to the bottom of this? If you go on Xbox Live with a Modchip will you be banned forever? Or does something worse happen? Let us know what you think....

Looks like Halo 2 has a conspiracy going that is worthy of our attention. Check out this information straight from Halomods.com. Remember the theatrical trailer for Halo 2 ? Well, someone discovered that in the very end, the Xbox.com logo actually changes for a split second into another url - ilovebees.com. Now, let me tell you that what you are about to see will confuse the living hell out of you... If you go to http://ilovebees.com/ , A message pops up that something inside the system is degenerating it - a virus or other proggie. But, if you looked closely at the "SYSTEM PERIL DISTRIBUTED REFLEX", you would notice that those first letters can also spell something else - "Single Player Demo Release". Yep, we believe that on August 24, 2004, at 00:06, A Demo of Halo 2's Single Player Experience will be made available...the truth or not?

I was beginning to wonder, as I watched the site, looking for his posts, I began to wonder. Where did he go?

My first thought, being the paranoid bugger that I am, was that they got to him. After all, it is the Console Conspiracy, and we have come across conspiracy theories in the past as they related to console gaming.

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And you better listen. Well if you want to know what the Big N is up to you better. Our buddies over at GCAdvanced translated this article. It mostly talks about how Nintendo is downplaying online, using the example of a PS2 online golf simulation game that did not sell as well as an offline golf simulation game. Iwata says this is "proof that customers do not want online games," and that "most customers do not wish to pay the extra money for connection to the Internet, and for some customers, connection procedures to the Internet are still not easy." Hmmm I think this guy needs to re-think his strategy. The only reason people are buying the Xbox is that they can play online....c'mon Iwata get in the game......

This just in - apparently PS is planning to ship it's PSP WITHOUT plans for games.

Sega is planning one original title and a console version of an existing game, but has not set a release date for either, spokesman Hirofumi Otsuki says.

Further Sony has yet to send the final development kits for PlayStation Portable to any of its outside games publishers, Sony Computer Entertainment spokeswoman Yoshiko Furusawa says.

Therefore, in order for there to be more than one or two games availabe for the console before it goes on sale, those developers will have to scramble.

I'd like to know who was the brains behind this decision...

Of course this isn't news, but look at a recent quote from Steve Ballmer:

"I am betting we can take Sony in the next generation. I think the work that Bill and I have been doing, really together, is to make sure we are investing in new areas. Look at what we have done with Xbox! We may still be losing money, but we have gone from nowhere to a significant player with a whole different approach. We've generated something brand new."

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Magnequench International today filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and Phillips, claiming patent infringement for the use magnetic materials found in Xbox DVD drives. The firm alleges that it has patents for neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) magnets used for miniaturization, which are purportedly found in the DVD-ROMs manufactured by Phillips for Microsoft's gaming console. Looks like M$ is in trouble again for stealing others ideas. Not exactly shocking news to those of us here at the Console Conspiracy

The Nd-Fe-B magnets are a roughly $2 billion dollar market--Magnequench suspects that up to 20 percent of the Nd-Fe-B magnets produced annually infringe upon their patents.

We borrowed this from Gamepro.com

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer issued strong words about its prospects in the next-generation console race, saying that the Xbox Next, codenamed Xenon, will overtake the PlayStation 3.

According to an interview with CNET News.com, Balmer said, "look at what we have done with Xbox. We may still be losing money, but we have gone from nowhere to a significant player with a whole different approach. We've generated something brand new. I bet we can take Sony next generation. I am betting we can take Sony in the next generation."

Although beaming with confidence, Microsoft faces a big obstacle--console sales in Asia. With the Xbox selling only a meager couple hundred units per week in Japan, and a subdued presence in the online gaming-heavy market in Korea, the company will need more than good console specs and a faster launch to get the edge over Sony's PlayStation 3.

See the article here

Sony really does have ambitious plans for it's PS - eventually it wants the console to replace the home PC - even become the brains behind a networked home.

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According to a news release on Forbes, Sony has finally set a release for the next Playstation. March 2005 is when we can expect to see the console hit store shelves.

If confirmed, that timeline would mean Sony's new game console will be out before the E3 convention in Los Angeles, scheduled for May. Sony and other video game makers have used E3, which draws game developers, fans and industry officials, for major product launches.

Coincidentally, this was also the time which Sony execs have previously announced that PSP (Playstation Portable) would be released.

Like most companies in the months after a successful E3 show, Nintendo has been relatively tight-lipped about their upcoming handheld. That leaves many of us in the gaming community salivating over any tidbit of information we can get on the upcoming Nintendo DS. So much so, it even has some editors, like Nix at IGN, creating the future and exploring new gameplay concepts of the two-screen, stylus-based DS.

My favorites: Cocktail Arcade Mode (seen above) lets you and a friend compete in a simple game on the same system, Stylus-controlled RTS, and stylus-controlled physics a la Lionhead's Ragdoll Kung Fu.

[Repost via Portagame]

Xbox is rewarding the Xbox Live evangelists. If you're an Xbox Live subscriber, you can now receive free games. It is very simple. Persuade your friends to sign up for a 12-month Xbox Live subscription and, once your friends have activated their subscriptions, tell them to go online and visit this URL.

They just have to enter some basic information, including your e-mail, their e-mail, their new gamertag, a promotion code, and their free game choice. After that, Microsoft will ship your free games. Offer expires July 29.

As we near the 4th of July some people (like us) are still weary of the Conspiracies the US Govt throws our way. However at least we have the freedom to do that here in the USA. Check out this article from Wired on how China is cracking down on Video Game content and even banning some games from being imported. We have reliable
leads that some consoles might even be banned if they don't watch their content.....