http://www.yankidank.com Yankidank.com, the standard for video game news. Home of the Gamer's Radiocast podcast. en-gb This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/WJ-a_jYsh5U/article.php ENGADGET.COM - If you've tossed around the idea of modding your DS, but never bit the bullet due to the ridiculous amount of loopholes you had to jump through to get your homebrew game on, DS-Xtreme has got you covered. While the precise details of how this thing works its magic are a bit scarce, we do know that the company claims this wonder-working cart will allow you to not only run your favorite homebrew applications on your DS without any software / hardware hacks or workarounds whatsoever, but it also rocks a built-in GUI that interfaces with Windows XP via USB 2.0 for some remarkably easy drag 'n drop action. All this sounds mighty impressive, especially compared to the PassMe alternative that required a old fashion GBA flash card, linker, and a DS game just to get you up and running; the DS-shaped cartridge features 512MB (4Gb) of built-in storage space, USB 2.0 connectivity, a full sized onboard EEprom "complete with some serious custom engineering," and a snazzy GUI that apparently makes managing your apps a breeze. If you've been fantisizing over an easier way to get homebrew material on your Nintendo DS or DS Lite, the DS-X flash cart appears to a dream come true, but considering there's no specific release date nor price, we're forced to play the "wait and see" game on this one. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=200608110028285 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/PKxK4i0fJDA/article.php GAMESPOT.COM - Sony's PSP handheld has seen a steadily growing set of features, thanks to frequent system software updates. Since its launch, the PSP has been given an Internet browser, Macromedia Flash capabilities, and support for RSS. At the March PlayStation Business Briefing, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Ken Kutaragi also announced plans for a camera attachment and GPS receiver, scheduled for release in Japan in September and October respectively. In a recent poll, Japanese Web site ITmedia asked its readers to vote on the new PSP features, both announced and otherwise, that they want the most. The least popular features, gaining 3 percent of the total votes each, were the camera attachment and support for electronic money. Another 14 percent of the votes went to the GPS receiver, which will enable the PSP to act as a portable navigation system and could be put to novel use in games as well. However, the bulk of the votes went to support for the 1seg service. 1seg, so called because it uses one of the 13 segments allotted to terrestrial digital television broadcasting, began earlier this year and allows viewers to watch programming on a range of portable devices. A 1seg tuner for the Nintendo DS is already in the works, and was announced alongside the Opera Web browser in February. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060809154200369 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/rSo4dDMpiYs/article.php GIZMODO.COM - No rebooting with Boot Camp and no Parallels software required to make these Cider-enhanced Windows games run on Mac. The only requirement is for game developers to include the Cider software in their game-builds for Windows, and Cider will handle all the translation between Windows and OS X. No major rebuild and development required on the game-developer's part. One thing that makes Cider different is that the game is effectively "wrapped" with TransGaming's technology. Users pop in a disc, install the game, and run it just as they would a standard Mac OS X application. But instead of Mac OS X, the game remains a Windows application. Cider, meanwhile, translates on the fly the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that the game needs to call in order to work. Interesting, but Mac games are already slower than their windows counterparts (Like World of Warcraft for example), and if there's going to be interpreting between the two APIs that may slow it down even more. Cider's people say that users may see "10 to 15 percent lower frame rates" compared to native OS X games. We'll wait and see whether Cider will be more practical than just rebooting into Windows via Boot Camp. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=2006080416123451 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/MJ7DeSB8SsI/article.php IGNIQ.COM - Microsoft has a petition coming its way from upset Xbox 360 owners all over America. It seems the company’s three-month warranty isn’t enough to please some gamers and they’re demanding at least a year of coverage.A petition has been set up at petitiononline.com to allow 360 owners a chance to voice their opinions. So far more than 2,000 gamers have made their desires known.The petition states that Microsoft’s warranty length is insufficient and goes on to say the current warranty is outrageous and inherently flawed. “Many consumers have had units replaced 2 or more times, in some cases upwards of 5 to 7 times, within the past 8 months since the system launch.” Microsoft has had problems since the launch of the 360 system with everything from the launch itself to making old Xbox games compatible. The three-month warranty seems a little weak, considering the known troubles with the console. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060731172223791 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/rNqj3KKSy3c/article.php NEXT-GEN.BIZ - I was editor-in-chief of the Official E3 Show Daily in 2006, and a few of those produced in the late 1990s. I attended the first E3, and the last and most of the others in between. I'm sorry that this event has gone, to be replaced by some new thing, much smaller in scale - more 'intimate' is the euphemism of the moment. It was a great way to meet and greet friends, allies and rivals in the business. It was exciting and fun and loud. It had its faults, but it acted as a focal point for the industry, before the summer's business of preparing for the Holidays really began. It was an opportunity to take stock of the industry as a whole - the people, the products and the trends. Many greeted the news that E3 had gone with shock. But, in reality, its days were numbered. Here's why... http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060731171744689 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/lNhW8vroFYo/article.php ENGADGET.COM - Well, word's in from ESA and and E3 is set to be all but castrated -- though not killed entirely. Apparently it will become a kinder, gentler, "more intimate" trade show after E3 sought counseling and found itself to suffer from severe cases of ADD, Tourette's, and harbor deep-rooted antisocial tendencies. But instead of putting the loud and raucous show on meds and calling it a day, they're rebranding it as E3Expo (which would, effectively, stand for Electronic Entertainment Expo Expo, making it E4) for 2007, and calling it a smaller, more focused event because, "It is no longer necessary or efficient to have a single industry 'mega-show.'" Whereas we may or may not agree with that statement, one thing is definitely sure: the days of E3 as we know it are officially over. So to our pals in the media and our readers who loved keeping tabs on the madness come early May each year, well, we'll always have Pari, erm, Vegas. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=2006073117105241 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/A13Gm64rNY0/article.php ENGADGET.COM - Perhaps the most notable things about the revamped Alienware Area-51 7500 are its new mood-lighting adjustable case and P2 chassis. The AlienFX case sports user-adjustable lighting in six different areas of its tool-less entry chassis, while the inside adds additional slots and inputs for the h@x0r in you - complete with AlienWare's AlienIce cooling system. Specs-wise, the new 7500 (an apparent bump from the MJ-12 7500) packs a dual core Intel Core 2 Duo processor or 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 (at the high end - default config is a Core 2 Duo E6400 2.13GHz), nVIDIA graphics (options include both single and SLI configurations, with up to dual 512MB GeForce 7900 GTXs), and as much as 4GB of DDR2 SDRAM. The new machine starts at $1,799, but our configured uber-rig (with 30-inch LCD, mind you) got us over $6,800 within just a few radio button clicks. Do your credit card a favor and take it out to dinner before you lay this one on it. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060728000907327 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/wmRuSMu-WcI/article.php Yankidank.com has existed for nearly two years. In this time 7,520 users have registered with yankidank.com and 1,418 articles have been entered into the story database. The website's articles cover the latest video game industry news and a podcasts nominated for the 2005 podcastawards.com best game podcast. Over the past several months I have not had time to maintain the site and I have recently decided to put the site up for bid on sedo.com. The site has only been listed for a little over a week, and I have already been offered close to what I would be willing to accept for the sale of the site. I'm seeking a mininum offer of $1,400 USD for the site and I hope to sell the site in the next few weeks. I will post updates concerning the sale if any offers go through. If you are interested in bidding on the site my advice to you is the sooner you bid the better. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060727195535450 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/HnrDG8X4TbQ/article.php GAMASUTRA.COM - As part of Gamasutra's visit to Shanghai for this week's ChinaJoy game exhibition, we've discovered that Xbox 360 game piracy appears to be spreading notably in the country, with at least one vendor offering Xbox 360 titles such as Hitman: Blood Money for around 30 Chinese yuan ($3.50). This development has occurred after an incident in March 2006, in which hackers managed to flash changes to the BIOS on the Xbox 360's Optical Disc Drive which allowed non-authenticated (copied) games to be played. Further information on the hack surfaced in late May, when other parties appear to have released a public version of the exploit, and Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog published an official response to the problem. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060726210944120 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/mcmxQBx_Z9U/article.php THEGAMERAG.COM - [We all talk about how bad G4TV is and most of that is based on a minimal amount of viewing time. Take a trip with Michael Piercey as he spends an entire day, on his butt, watching G4TV to find out just how bad it is, and if the 'bad' is actually warranted. Part one finds him explaining why he chose to do this experience.] First off, allow me to begin by saying that the title of this piece is a bit misleading. The *censor*ing is there - the nit-picking, the insults etc. What’s misleading is I really only spent twenty-ONE hours with G4, as they run three hours of non-game related paid programming from 5am-8am, and I refused to watch any of that. Actually I asked my editor if I could trade an hour of paid programming for, say, an hour of Fastlane, but he said no, and seemed resolute, so I dropped it. With that disclaimer aside, prepare to become ensconced, as I was, by the tale of a man on his ass, for twenty-one grueling hours. It occurs to me that some of you out there might not know exactly what G4TV is. Well sit on down and I’ll fill you in. G4TV is, as they say, Television for Gamers, that is people who spend their entire day playing video games, but don’t have the internet. I throw the internet thing in there because everything you hear or see on G4 can easily be found online, be it cheats, reviews, or dorks arguing about Star Trek. But beyond that, G4 is a cable channel that thinks they truly understand YOU, the 20-something virgin nerd (that is you, right?). Any sometimes-viewer (and I pray to every god I can think of that they’re the ONLY kind of viewer) will tell you that G4’s programming is all over the board, and they’re right. But let’s step away from that for now. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=2006072318405819 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/9gZr99T3N0s/article.php IGNIQ.COM - It used to be the World of Warcraft was very clear-cut in who could play what. But, it seems The Burning Crusade expansion pack will change all that.The new expansion will not only introduce two new character classes – the Draenei and the Blood Elves – but it will also allow Alliance players to create Draenei shaman while the Horde will have access to Blood Elf paladins. The character classes will have many of the same features as their predecessors, but each will come with some special abilities, as well.This doesn’t seem like it would be a big deal on the surface, but with the way WoW is set up, it actually has some pretty big potential implications. Right now, the Horde doesn’t have access to paladins and the Alliance finds itself shaman-less. This change will, presumably, balance out the sides a little more evenly while also giving players more of a choice when it comes to character classes. WoW's official site has some interesting lore to explain the change. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060723183410191 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/zD8kCUNyB6A/article.php IGNIQ.COM - It was evident from the start that Japan was not a Microsoft stronghold, but the numbers are bleaker than I expected.Back when the Xbox 360 made its way to Japan, the comparison in sales between the U.S. and the Japanese market was amazing. It remains so.According to Joystiq, Japan’s Xbox sales for last week were pitiful to say the least. The original console might as well not even be in the country and the next-gen version isn’t far ahead. The Japanese bought a total of 10 Xboxes last week and only 1,105 360s.This is in comparison to 140,858 Nintendo DS Lites and 35,283 PSPs. Based on the numbers, it seems Japan is a handheld market at the moment. The PlayStation 2 does come in third, however. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060723182854414 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/58lAfmvdXK0/article.php GAMESPOT.COM - Famitsu.com hit the streets of Tokyo today to find out how the new Noble Pink Nintendo DS Lite was selling. Rather well, it turns out. At the Ikebukuro electronics shop Big Camera in Japan, customers began arriving as early as 3 a.m., forming a line that grew to 160 people by opening time and to over 400 by 11:30 a.m. It also seems that many Noble Pink buyers purchased it along with Nintendo's new talking cookbook software, Shaberu! DS Ryori Navi, which also launched today. The popularity of the new color was not limited to the Ikebukuro area. A Big Camera representative told the site that lines reached 130 people at the company's Yurakucho branch. Over in Akihabara, Famitsu.com conducted an impromptu demographic survey at the Yodobashi Camera Multimedia store, where lines swelled to nearly 200 people by 9 a.m. Although a store representative said there were almost twice as many women in line for a DS Lite than usual, Famitsu observed that men still outnumbered the ladies by a wide margin. When asked why they were purchasing the pearly pink DS Lite, many of the guys said they were buying on behalf of female family members. Out of the 25 men Famitsu spot-interviewed, 16 said they were buying the item as a gift. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060721020609587 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/nqg54GyqrFQ/article.php GAMESPOT.COM - Nintendo's Animal Crossing franchise is unique in that it doesn't have a traditional story, there's no real beginning or end, and the main character is unique to each individual. However, those factors won't stop the game from being made into a movie. The Web site for the movie adaptation of the game has launched, and it reveals some basic details of the film. Doubutsu No Muri (the Japanese title for the film and its game inspiration) will be released on December 16 this year and will be fully animated. Handling the directing will be Jouji Shimura, who directed the anime movie Shin Angyo Onshi, and screenwriting duties were filled by Aya Matsui (Marmalade Boy, Ranma 1/2). According to the Web site, the movie will feature much of the spirit of the Animal Crossing games. The plot summary on the site reads: "Doubutsu (Animal) Village is a place where humans and animals live together in friendship. One day, a girl named Ai moves to the village. She gets a part time job, and gradually starts making friends in the village. Then, one night she finds a mysterious letter in a bottle on the beach. Opening the bottle, she finds the message reads 'A miracle will occur the night of the Snow Festival'..." In addition to Ai, Kappei, the taxi driver from the games, will make an appearance. Also featured in the film will be Kotobuki, the town's mayor; Tanukichi, the raccoon shop owner; and Alberto, a mellow alligator. There is no word yet of a North American release for the movie. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060721020436916 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/gNoR5dhDgzM/article.php GAMASUTRA.COM - Sony Online Entertainment announced a new licensing agreement with Epic Games to use the company's popular Unreal Engine 3 technology for the development of content for some of SOE's next-generation console and PC titles. SOE will use this technology for a number of future projects, including the earlier announced DC Comics-based game currently under development at Sony Online's Austin studio. Sony Online is the latest in a long string of publisher and developers licensing the engine, with THQ signing up back in March. Previous engine licensees have included Microsoft Game Studios, Atari, Real Time Worlds, Namco, Midway, Silicon Knights, and VU Games, and the middleware is currently the dominant third-party game engine, going into the next-generation transition. “Our development teams are very excited about harnessing the power of Unreal Engine 3,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “The combination of a top-notch graphics engine and a robust set of design tools will enable our teams to deliver incredible and innovative game content for next-generation consoles and the PC.” http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060721015707921 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/HM5TnBBmWWs/article.php GAMERANDY.COM - GamerAndy.com has recieved exclusive word from a source "in the know" who asked to remain anonymous that Red Octane is hard at work not only on a second PS2 iteration of their DDR-gone-electric gaming sensation, Guitar Hero, but also developing a version for the Xbox 360! When approached for comment, Microsoft declined as per their standard handling of unconfirmed information. Even taken with a grain of salt though, this is exciting to me. If the Guitar Hero franchise comes to the 360, could we be seeing not only downloadable tracks and guitars via the marketplace, but perhaps also online play over XBox Live? Perhaps even "Ultimate Guitar Hero" tourneys? The possibilities are endless and the very idea has me (I'm one song away from completing GH on Expert) giddy at the possibility of schooling Hawkes with my wireless guitar controller. Even so, this is unconfirmed by anybody outside our source and so should be taken with a grain of salt. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060721015337657 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/mBZbi4_spqo/article.php JOYSTIQ.COM - See how happy those people are? That happiness does not come from the knowledge they are paid to get excited -- okay, so it does, but let's suspend reality and pretend they are actual playtesters. David Weller, the community manager at Microsoft's Game Technology Group, is putting out the call on his blog for participants under age 18, preferably between six and 12-years-old, to playtest some upcoming games.If you do decide to participate, do Microsoft a favor and come into the program with a critical mind and not just as a chance to be the first kid on your block to try Project X. Weller (gamertag: LetsKillDave) and his group will probably need you to check every nook and cranny and give earnest feedback on the progress of the game, so that it does not get released as buggy and un-fun piece of software that will never sell.If you are interested, you (and your parent) can fill out this form. You can tell them LetsKillDave sent you, but that might upset Mom and Pop. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060721015140713 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/EZv5YIob9DM/article.php JOYSTIQ.COM - Nintendo finally got back to us about reports of cracked DS Lite hinges. Here's the official statement we were sent:"In the U.S., the reported number of small cosmetic cracks in the plastic hinge of DS Lite systems represents less than 0.02 percent of the total units sold. This cosmetic issue in no way impacts the gameplay or integrity of the DS Lite. Nintendo stands behind the quality of our products and encourages DS Lite owners to contact our Customer Service Department if they are not happy with the functionality of their systems."The 0.02% figure is based solely on reported cracked hinges, and as such, does not reflect the actual percentage of defective DS Lites. While merely cosmetic -- know that some reports claim the damage can worsen -- the crack, in our opinion, should be considered under the DS Lite's warranty. But don't go crying to Customer Service just yet ... if the instance is as rare -- and harmless -- as Nintendo claims, these imperfections will no doubt end up as collector's items sold on eBay. Who wants to place the first bid on ours? http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=200607210147596 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/jmU5hXBvXfY/article.php HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM - In his latest podcast, Microsoft Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hyrb (a.k.a. Major Nelson) spoke with Amir Majidimehr, vp of the company's Consumer Media Technology Group, all about HD DVD and Microsoft's decision to back that format and not Blu-ray (Sony's competing next-gen DVD format). Majidimehr said Microsoft was actually "quite active" with both formats before choosing to back HD DVD exclusively. The primary reason for that was to get Microsoft's compression technology VC1 adopted by both formats. The more Microsoft looked at both formats, however, the more convinced the company became that Blu-ray wouldn't be the best technology to support."As time went by we started to get concerned about a few things on Blu-ray," he said. "Number 1 was viability of being able to manufacture that disc. Blu-ray moves the recording surface very close to the top of the disc, the top layer of the disc, and as you do that it gets harder and harder to manufacture those discs with high reliability. And indeed if you look at the marketplace today, Blu-ray has launched at half their capacity, at 25 gigabytes and are having difficulty ramping up to 50 gigabytes." http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=2006072000142971 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/vgUV7UBxt8k/article.php NEXT-GEN.BIZ - Will Wright does not do things by halves. That's just as well, since with Spore, he will attempt to outdo The Sims, now officially the biggest-selling game of all time, having overtaken Myst and shifted, in all its variants, in the vicinity of 60 million units. Spore, undoubtedly, is his most ambitious project: It consists of five distinct phases, each pretty much a game in its own right, and mixes action-adventure, space-simulation, and RTS gameplay. But what will it be like to play? Next Generation had a unique chance to get some hands-on Spore action, so we can offer some insight. A note of caution is required, however. Thanks to careful planning that ensured that the game’s most innovative aspects, such as the procedural animation engine and the super-friendly editors, have been in design and prototyping for years, all the building blocks of the game are now functional. Even so, it is clearly going to take Maxis at least a year to stitch all the elements into a coherent whole. But it is already fun to play. Sadly, we were unable to try the first phase of the game, in which you design a single-cell organism, send it out into the wild, and hope it survives and evolves. But, according to Wright, that phase will be little more than a glorified tutorial, anyway. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060719133518493 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/HpZv7lTN09Y/article.php JOYSTIQ.COM - Cartoon Network is bringing its IPs into the online world with its own MMO title. Developed by Seoul-based Grigon Entertainment (Seal Online), the game is confirmed to feature characters from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Ben 10, and Kids Next Door. The game will be free to download, but subscriptions and micro-transactions will be "available to players to enhance the gaming experience." Cartoon Network will launch the title, it hopes, in Spring of 2008. This deal is smart for both companies: Cartoon Network gets an established developer to create a franchise title that may actually be fun, while Grigon Entertainment will get some exposure in the United States -- a market in which Grigon currently has no presence. If this works out, how about someone make an Adult Swim MMOG? It'd be great, where you could make your own food-related avatar and have Brock teach you 3 million ways to kill a 12 oz. mouse. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=2006071913322079 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/mbgEmpvbKGo/article.php GAMASUTRA.COM - According to a report from news service AFX Asia citing The Commercial Times, Taiwanese based electronics firm ASUSTeK Computer will deliver the first PlayStation 3 console to Sony this month, as full scale production of the company’s next generation console begins. The first consignment is for 4 million units, with monthly shipments beginning with 200,000 units and increasing to 2 million in October. Fellow Taiwanese company Hon Hai Precision Industry will also begin production of the consoles shortly. The news appears to put Sony on course to deliver on its promise of production of one million units a month by November, with six million units by the end of March 2007, and by implication three million units worldwide by the end of 2006. Despite continuing concerns over the cost of the PlayStation 3, though, this is still unlikely to meet demand, and stock problems similar to or worse than the Xbox 360 launch last year have been predicted by some analysts. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060719133032901 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/_p7aeIhWp1Q/article.php JOYSTIQ.COM - NCsoft has announced the third Guild Wars campaign, Nightfall, which will have an exclusive PvP preview for current members on July 28-30. Like its predecessors, Nightfall is a standalone module with a new continent to explore, and will only require the earlier games if you have characters to transfer. However, veterans might be tempted to start fresh with one of the two new professions -- the angelic Paragon or the scythe-wielding Dervish, both of which are previewed at GameSpot. Visit the game's official web site for more details on the Nightfall preview event, as well as updates on the Guild Wars Factions Championship. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060719132926686 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/bueP49-ETx4/article.php JOYSTIQ.COM - In an act of poll balance and contrary to a recent Famitsu poll, the PS3 is more popular than Wii according to a recent Amazon Japan poll. PunchJump writes: "The overseas retail division of Amazon.com has published a graph that represents customer interest in each platform, with the 60GB PS3 edging out the Wii. The 20GB PS3 was the least popular among customers." Add the two PS3 editions together, and sales-wise, the PS3 should outsell Wii by about 33% if the Amazon Japan pollsters are correct. Does a lack of a 360 option mean that Microsoft's console isn't even on the radar anymore? http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060719132129209 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Yankidank/~3/5VU5nrvj-18/article.php 1UP.COM - UPDATE: We've received an additional update from Target on their approach to the UMD situation. Though PSP UMD movies will no longer be available in retail stores, they will still be stocked online via Target.com ORIGINAL STORY: We know UMDs haven't been performing spectacularly well in recent months. Though the format showed signs of grown when PSP launched, too many titles flooded store shelves at prices people weren't necessarily crazy about. The result? Retailers have started pulling product, and Target's one of the first to start removing UMDs completely. Kotaku confirmed the information with serveral employees yesterday, and today 1UP called local stores (well, local to me near Chicago, the rest of 1UP's located in San Francisco) to see if the rumors were true. The first Target claimed to still have them on shelves, and knew nothing of a roll back. "No, we still have them. No one's pulled them here," said the employee. http://www.yankidank.com/article.php?story=20060715225936630