It’s time to strike a pose, ladies and gentlemen. Electronic Arts is celebrating the UK release of MySims on the Wii and DS by launching a range of limited edition accessories by some of the UK’s hottest designers (or so Catwalk Queen tells us). Henry Holland, Giles Deacon, Tatty Devine and Cassette Playa have all jumped into bed with EA, with their designs going on sale from the 8th of October on the MySims website.

Of particular interest is the special slogan tee created by Henry Holland (or House of Holland, as he prefers to be known), which features a bespoke pocket for your DS (£40, above). Elsewhere we have a bag from Giles Deacon featuring his ‘Eek’ character, where you can store your Wii-mote (£35), and a set of vinyl and foil artworks from Cassette Playa that you can plaster your kit with (£15). Perhaps the most whacky of the bunch, however, is an exclusive Wiimote bag designed by Tatty Devine to resemble a sushi tray. Yours for only £150.

With exclusive swag like this, it’s clear that EA is trying to grab the attention of a female demographic. If they were going for the traditional audience of adolescent boys, for example, they would’ve offered stuff like scruffy lumberjack shirts and second-hand Converse trainers. Slaves to fashion? Us? Never!

Source: My Sims accessories

Via Tech Digest

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It’s just as well that at least a few developers are still making games for the DS, because it seems like the majority of softcos (in Japan, especially) are now focussed instead on producing DS-based educational resources and e-books.

Tomy’s Feast of Beautiful Sweets is another such resource, teaching DS owners how to prepare more than 200 different types of dessert. Calorie counts and preparation times are noted alongside each recipe, so the developer can’t really be held responsible if Japanese players become obese from overenthusiastic application of the software. Feast of Beautiful Sweets will be released in Japan next month; Famitsu has the screens.

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The Japanese transport ministry has decreed that Wi-Fi enabled handhelds are not permitted on their airlines because of safety concerns. They’re convinced that the electromagnetic waves emitted by consoles like the DS and the PSP can interfere with aircraft navigation systems and other crucial devices, says The Hollywood Reporter. As of last Monday the use of these consoles was made illegal.

This is a pretty sad development; the only reason that airline flights are even remotely bearable is because we can play games on the go. Without it we’re trapped in a claustrophobic hell of screaming kids, smelly feet and bad food. Let’s hope and pray the rest of the aviation industry doesn’t follow their lead, otherwise you might want to consider alternative forms of transport.

Airlines are not the only institutions having difficulty with the proliferation of Wi-Fi. Recently prisons in both the UK and Sweden decided to ban all next-gen games consoles for fear that their Wi-Fi capabilities were being used to coordinate terrorist attacks. A bit of an over-reaction, perhaps, but they went and banned them anyway.

Via Next-Gen

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Team Ninja’s executive producer Tomonobu Itagaki has always placed a strong emphasis on games with cutting edge visuals, sometimes at the expense of the gameplay. In an interview with Gamasutra, he even states that a game “should be beautiful, first and foremost.” So why did he decide to create a new Ninja Gaiden title for the DS instead of the technologically superior PSP?

Itagaki explains that while the PSP is capable of more sophisticated visuals, it’s really just a portable PS2, and developing for that platform would be much the same as creating a game for the PS3 or the 360. Far better, he reasons, to work with the unique form factor of the DS, which offers the opportunity to do “something totally original”.

He momentarily has a case of the warm fuzzies as he talks about playing Dragon Sword with his daughter, but Itagaki soon regains his rock hard composure: “But it isn’t just those kind of heartwarming feelings that I have when I make this game. This is obviously designed to destroy all the action game competition on the DS as well. Don’t forget that.”

Don’t worry chum, we won’t.

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IGN has long maintained that Bungie once worked on a version of Halo for the Nintendo DS, but no one took their claims seriously. The rumour that we’d soon experience the adventures of the Master Chief on a handheld remained just that, a rumour. After months of silence, however, IGN has produced irrefutable evidence that it really did exist.

Judging by the videos, it looks like a very faithful conversion, right down to the ability to dual wield weapons. We also recognised one of the multiplayer levels from Halo 2 in there, and are impressed that Bungie managed to squeeze in a scaled down version of such a huge stage. The control system, for better or for worse, appears to be a variation of the stylus scheme as seen on Metroid Prime: Hunters.

But here’s the kicker. For whatever reason - corporate politics most likely - the game will never see the light of day, and it’s a crying shame. Tying together the world’s bestselling platform with such a huge franchise is a match made in heaven, and would surely have made a tonne of cash for everyone involved.

C’mon Microsoft, c’mon Nintendo, kiss and make up why doncha? You’ve already struck a couple of deals over Viva Pinata and Blue Dragon. It’s time to give the gaming public what they REALLY want.

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No sooner had we posted details of Advance Wars 2 on the DS, then along come a few more screenshots to whet our appetite. Jeux-France have been able to get photos of more than just the title screen, and have 10 shots of the game in action. Although slightly out of focus, and suffering from bad reflections, the new style is clear to see and it looks like another great addition to the franchise.

As long as the game mechanics remained the same, a sequel to Advance Wars: Dual Strike was always going to be a hit, no matter what it looked like. Hopefully we’ll get an official announcement soon, with all the details. As long as it’s got Wi-Fi online gaming, I’ll be a very happy blogger. Now all we need is Fire Emblem DS and I’ll be in turn-based strategy game heaven.

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Paris is currently hosting the 2007 Micromania Games Show. There hasn’t been much in the way of exclusive announcements at the show, hence the lack of coverage, but one game in particular has caught our attention: Advance Wars 2 for the DS. A sequel perhaps, but a sequel to one of the greatest games ever made, so you can understand if we’re a little excited. Over on the NeoGAF forums, Sad_Panda spills the beans:

“AW DS 2 did receive a complete overhaul in terms of design. Gone are Max, Andy and the others, replaced by a whole new crew. IS went with a whole new, more realistic, miltary look, and quite frankly, it seemed like a pretty wise move. Graphically-wise, the look went with the new design, though it looked pretty much the same. New combat animations were pretty low-quality though, blurry and badly animated. Surely that’s gonna be fixed by the time it comes out. Had time to notice a new unit - bike infantry unit - and that pretty much sums it up.”

Hmmm, interesting. It sounds like all the familiar elements have been ditched in favour of something more gritty and less cartoony. This was probably necessary in order to keep the franchise fresh, but we’ll have to wait and see if it works. More details when we have them.

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