FIRING OFF FACTS IN ALL DIRECTIONS ITS THE EXOCET OF

INCOMING!

When Nintendos new console arrives in the latter half of 2006*, Nintendo are hoping that everyone will find out what the company means when it talks about All-Access Gaming. We will show the world what a next-gen system can be. Revolution marries the strongest heritage of innovation to the future of gaming, says Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. With backward compatibility and the virtual console concept, the stylish, compact body provides maximum gaming power. It will not only take home entertainment into another dimension by expanding the definition of video games, but it also will give you access to the great history of videogaming. Sounds exciting to us, but then he would say that wouldnt he? To find out more about the machine lets ask the people who know about these things some questions Whats it look like? The new console boasts high-quality materials and a smart, compact design, approximately the size of three standard DVD cases stacked together. It will come with a silver stand that makes the system a welcome, artistic component of any multimedia setup, whether its displayed vertically or horizontally. Can I play my old games? The new console plays all games from the current Nintendo GameCube generation. But theres more

NINTENDO

GAMING NEWS!

MICROSOFT

So, you want a Revolution?
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT NINTENDOS NEXT GENERATION MACHINE CODENAMED REVOLUTION
Oooh, do tell The console also will have downloadable access to 20 years of fan-favorite titles originally released for Nintendo 64, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and even the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Can I expand the system? A bay for an SD memory card will let players expand the internal flash memory. Erm, how will the new machine cope with different disc formats? Instead of a tray, a single, innovative, self-loading media bay will play both 12-centimeter optical discs used for the new system as well as Nintendo GameCube discs. Owners will have the option of equipping a small, self-contained attachment to play movies and other DVD content. Whats under the bonnet? The system boasts 512 Megabytes of internal flash memory, wireless controllers, two USB 2.0 ports and built-in Wi-Fi access. A worldwide network of Nintendo players can gather to compete in a comfortable, inviting environment. Revolutions technological heart, a processing chip developed with IBM and code-named Broadway, and a graphics chip set from ATI codenamed Hollywood, will deliver game experiences not previously possible. And what games can I expect to play on it? All the old favourites will be making an appearance on the new machine including: Mario, Zelda, Super Smash Bros., Donkey Kong and Metroid. And, of course, Nintendo have a few new faces to introduce to the world once the machines released. Is wireless online play possible? A number of Wi-Fi-enabled launch titles are in development that will employ Nintendos newly announced wireless gaming service, Nintendo WiFi Connection. A worldwide network of Nintendo players can gather to compete with each other. Our next console proves small in size but big on ideas, says Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of Americas executive vice president of sales & marketing. Were throwing open the doors of gaming to wider audiences, from casual players to hard-core gamers who live for the thrill of defeating an endless army of wireless opponents. Nintendos All-Access Gaming philosophy covers the spectrum. The next console fits anywhere. It brings together new games and old. It gives people worldwide access through wireless Wi-Fi connections. And it opens the world of video games to everyone. Software for the new console will even attract people who dont consider themselves players. Adults, kids, men and women around the world will have access to the most popular video game characters, the best game franchises and the most engaging experiences yet developed. Will Nintendo keep the systems architecture closed, so only approved developers will be able to make games? A dynamic development architecture equally accommodates both big-budget, high-profile game masterpieces as well as indie games conceived by individual developers. Can I have one now please? The Nintendo Revolution is expected to be launched in the latter half of 2006 at a price that is reported to be competitive with the Xbox360 and PlayStation 3.

Microsofts Origami Handheld
Otto Berkes, general manager of Microsofts Ultra-Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC) Division, shows the Samsung Q1 Ultra-Mobile PC

ON THE RADAR

EARLY WARNING ON THE GAMES MOST LIKELY TO DEVASTATE YOUR SPARE TIME!
Details were revealed recently at the Cebit Technology Fair about Microsofts mini-pc machine, Origami. Samsung are the first manufacturers to offer the new machine that boats a 7 inch touchscreen and 40Gigabyte hard drive and it expects to start putting the machines on shop shelves within weeks. The machine also boasts an Intel Celeron processor onboard, runs the tablet edition of Windows XP and uses wi-fi and bluetooth to communicate with other machines. Samsung have said the machine runs in two basic modes one that enables it to be a full-on media center that gives the user the chance to watch films and play music without having to load up the machines operating system and another mode that turns it into a normal Windows-based PC. Again, well bring you more details when they surface.

March_April

BATTLE OF EUROPE

PC/Black Bean

AEON FLUX

Ngage/Nokia

PS2/Xbox/THQ
CIVILIZATION FULL SPECTRUM WARRIOR: TEN HAMMERS

PC/PS2/Xbox/THQ

GC/Nintendo
RESIDENT EVIL: DEADLY SILENCE

DS/Capcom PC/Sega

SONIC MEGA COLLECTION PLUS DRIVER 2006

PS2/Xbox/Atari

EVOLUTION GT

PSP/Ubi Soft

PC/PS2/Black Bean
SPLINTER CELL FOOTBALL MANAGER 2006

PSP/Xbox360/Sega

ROGUE TROOPER
PC/PS2/Xbox/Eidos PC/Electronic Arts PC/Capcom

FASTEST PC AVAILABLE

Kingston Technology Europe Ltd, asetek (DK) and Western Digital (US) have joined forces to build and demonstrate one of the fastest commercially available PCs in the world. The Dream Machine, equipped with top handpicked hardware runs at an amazing 5.46 GHz CPU speed. The jointly configured system based on, VapoChill LightSpeed CPU cooling, WaterChill graphics and motherboard chipset cooling, Kingston Technology HyperX KHX7200D2K2 DDR2 RAM, Western Digital Raptor X hard drives and Intel P4 3.8GHz CPU, forms the basis of the ultimate Dream Machine for PC enthusiasts and dedicated gamers. To reach a CPU speed at 5.46 GHz it is crucial to have very efficient cooling on all
HALF-LIFE2: AFTERMATH RESIDENT EVIL FIFA WORLD CUP
DS/GBA/PSP/PS2/Xbox/PC/GC/ Xbox360/Electronic Arts
essential hardware. That is why we have chosen phase-change cooling reaching CPU surroundings close to -33 Celsius degrees under load. Additionally the graphics card and the motherboard chipset are chilled by aseteks highly recognized and awarded water-cooling product line; WaterChill, comments Morten Berg-Christensen, Senior Communications Manager at asetek. Well, we want one. And you know what? If we had the technical nounce, we could build our own. All the components are available off the shelf and the Kingston technical chaps are more than happy to help out anyone planning on building their own version. Kingston can be contacted on: (0)1932 738888, www.kingston.com

PLAYSTATION

May_June

LMA MANAGER 2006

PC/PS2/Xbox/Eidos PC/PS2/Sega

LMA Manager coming soon

PC/Xbox360/Codemasters
HITMAN- BLOOD MONEY PHANTASY STAR UNIVERSE

PlayStation 3 Delayed?

After initially announcing last year that the PlayStation 3 would launch in the Spring of 2006, Sony have gone very quiet. Rumours have been flying about the machine having problems with the Blu-Ray media format the machines adopted and thats the cause for the machines delay. More news when we get it.

TIMESHIFT

PC/Xbox/Xbox360/Atari

AYED? DEL

RAINBOW SIX: CRITICAL HOUR

PS2/Xbox/Ubi Soft

SENSIBLE SOCCER

PC/PS2/Xbox/Kuju

Please bear in mind that games have a terrible habit of slipping past their expected release dates and this table should therefore only be used as a rough guide.

04 LAUNCH

WWW.LAUNCHMAG.CO.UK

LAUNCH 05