There’s been rumblings of a new DSi being released for the past fews – sporting larger screens albeit at the same resolution as the DSi. Photos have just been put on the Nintendo.co.jp website confirming all this. It certainly is considerably larger than its predecessor. Here’s the dimensions compared to the DS, DS Lite and DSi:

DS： (L) 148.7mm／ (W) 84.7mm／ (D) 28.9mm
DSLite： 133.0mm／ 73.9mm／ 21.5mm
DSi： 137.0mm／ 74.9mm／ 18.9mm
DSi LL： 161.0mm／ 91.4mm／ 21.2mm

Looking at that stylus, and the increased size of the screen, one can only assume Nintendo is targetting the older generation of DS users, who may benefit from these size additions. The screen size has been increased up to 4.2 inches, compared  to the DSi’s 3.25 inches which in itself was an increase from the DS and DS Lite’s 3 inch screens. So at this rate they next iteration will be played on dual 42″ screens (at the original resolution of course – one shudders when thinking about pixel depth).

The Nintendo DSi LL is set to be released on November 21st in Japan, retailing for ¥20,000 and available in Red Wine, Dark Brown and Natural White. And no, I don’t know what LL stands for.

Edit – Apparently this is coming to the UK in Q1 2010 and will retail at a higher price than the DSi, it will also be branded the Nintendo DSi XL. And look, Nintendo have already started work on the Nintendo DSi XXL:

Swung by the Tate Modern today and saw the Miroslaw Balka exhibit, which is basically a big dark room entitled ‘How It Is’. Described by the Tate Modern as:

How It Is alludes to recent Polish history – for example, the ramp at the entrance to the Ghetto in Warsaw, or the trucks which took Jews away to the camps of Treblinka or Auschwitz. By entering the dark space, visitors place considerable trust in the organisation, something akin to the risks often taken by immigrants travelling. Balka intends to provide an experience for visitors which is both personal and collective, creating a range of sensory and emotional experiences through sound, contrasting light and shade, individual experience and awareness of others, perhaps provoking feelings of apprehension, excitement or intrigue.

In all honesty, I didn’t really experience any of that. It was just novel to wander in to a large darkened container for a while, then briskly wander back out. A sentiment likely echoed by the large numbers of tourists and frolicking children enjoying the exhibit. Frankly much of this ‘modern art’ is lost on me. This is what the construction looks like from the outside:

It wasn’t really that dark in there either. I was hoping the Call of Duty night vision goggles would be required equipment, but alas no.

The Eurogamer Expo 2009 is just over 1 week  away, hosted in Leeds on the 28th and 29th, and London on the 30th and 31st it’s a great opportunity to sample some of the upcoming holiday releases. I’ve got my press pass all primed and ready, so look forward to some coverage from the London dates. If you haven’t already got tickets for the London dates then you’re too late, they’re all booked up!

Big ol’ press release and details of what will be at the show after the break.

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Found this in the ol’ archives and decided it made a nice wallpaper. It was originally a photo of a phone dangly put into Photoshop with some liberal use of the Art History Brush for the painted effect. At least that’s what I think I did.

Having only recently acquired an iPhone, I wasn’t too familiar with the whole concept of ‘jailbreaking’, except for passing mentions. Phrases pertaining to such things as ‘full potential’ and ‘awesomesauce’ were often thrown around. So when Geohot’s new jailbreak exploit was released, entitled ‘Blackra1n’, for 3.1.x version iPhones, I decided to give it a go. It’s available from Blackra1n.com for both Windows and Macs. Some people have reported some problems and failed starts, but for myself, everything was done in less than a minute. I literally plugged my iPhone in, ran the app, hit ‘Make it Ra1n’ and after a phone reboot or two my phone was set free from its incarceration.

Once jailbroken, you’ll have a Darkra1n app on your iPhone, run that and install Cydia and you’re one step closer to having a plethora of awesome Jailbreak Apps on your iPhone. Cydia is effectively the Appstore for Jailbroken Apps.

Because lists are seemingly the cornerstone of blog posts, my must have apps to get you started are after the break.

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Supposedly Homeland Security are testing out the Wii Balance Board as a means to screen potential filthy terrorists at airports. Somehow the balance board will be able to detect fidgety or nervous passengers who might be hiding weapons or explosives. How the Wii Balance Board will perform when subjects just really need the toilet has not yet been revealed.

Via [PopSci]

Whilst perusing HMV for things I can’t afford to buy, I noticed they had a whole display dedicated to video game related Gachapons. Gachapon (or ‘Gashapon’) are a Japanese onomatopoeia, made up of the two sounds ‘gacha’; referring to the sound of the crank, and ‘pon’; the sound of the capsule being released from its incarceration. You can thank Wikipedia for that slice of knowledge.

Gachapon Stand in HMV

These are retailing for £2 a piece, so i’m not entirely sure why I felt I had enough disposable income to buy four of them, but I digress. Available were Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Super Mario Galaxy, Zelda Phantom Hourglass and a number of others I showed the restraint to not buy. Inside the Animal Crossing capsules you’ll find keychain danglies, whilst Mario Galaxy and Phantom Hourglass provide desktop figures complete with stands. The Mario Kart capsules contain pull-back action figures of your favourite Mario Kart stars.

I managed to snag Tetra from Phantom Hourglass, Peach from Super Mario Galaxy, Donkey Kong from Mario Kart and some kind of bird from Animal Crossing, possibly the one from the Post Office. I just need to find some space on my desk for them now. Though they’ll be competing with some Street Fighter kubrick toys I got in GAME way back when. Check out the Mario vs Donkey Kong themed Mario cameo on the end as well. Random iPhone photo gallery ahoy.

Gizmodo are reporting that Robbie Bach, President of Entertainment & Devices Division at Microsoft, has gone on record as saying Natal will follow a price point ‘like anything else’. Gizmodo have seemingly deciphered that piece of crypticness as code for ‘time to take out a second job‘, an homage to Ken Kutaragi’s poorly phrased statement pre-Playstation 3 launch no doubt.

Will Project Natal launch at anywhere near the cost of a new console? It remains to be seen, with the Redmond corporation remaining tight lipped. But there has been rumblings that Natal is seen as an altogether new hardware launch, so perhaps it is time to start saving those pennies.

Ubi Soft have just announced they’ve purchased the development studio Nadeo – the developers responsible for the immensely popular Trackmania franchise.

For those of you not familiar with the series (for shame), Trackmania is an online, multiplayer racing game played entirely with your keyboard. It also offers an in-depth track editor with the means to share them amongst the Trackmania community. A free version of the game is available from Trackmania.com as well as the more feature-full paid version. Certainly worth checking out and subsequently losing a lot of time to. Press release after the break.

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So, the Federal Trade Commission has decided full disclosure is needed regarding reviewers receiving freebies or hats stuffed with money for reviews. So in the interest of keeping everything above board, I wish Eidos had sent me a free copy of Batman Arkham Asylum and that Batmobile in my driveway is merely a happy coincidence.

PHILADELPHIA — The Federal Trade Commission will require bloggers to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products.
It is the first time since 1980 that the commission has revised its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials, and the first time the rules have covered bloggers.
But the commission stopped short Monday of specifying how bloggers must disclose any conflicts of interest.
The FTC said its commissioners voted 4-0 to approve the final guidelines, which had been expected. Penalties include up to $11,000 in fines per violation. The rule takes affect December 1st.

Then again, I don’t believe Chocolate Jetpack HQ falls within the FTC’s jurisdiction. So publishers, leave your cheques in the hat on your way out.