New Yu-Gi-Oh! Tournament Coming
Ready your cards: Day of the Duelist is coming.

No, not a moment of reckoning for those stuck in a dichotomous world-view. Rather, it's Yu-Gi-Oh! Day of the Duelist - World Championship Tournament 2005, just announced by Konami for release next month. FullStory

From the, Seems Kind of Wrong Department.

New Cancer Gene Identified: Dubed POKEMON
Oncogene Plays a Critical Role in Tumor Formation

NEW YORK, January 20, 2005 - Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) have identified a new cellular oncogene essential for the development of cancer. Oncogenes are genes that, when mutated or dysfunctional, lead normal cells to become cancerous. The investigators have named the gene POKEMON (for POK Erythroid Myeloid Ontogenic factor). The work is being published in the January 20, 2005, issue of Nature. FullStory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WizKids Releases MechWarrior: Age of Destruction

January 19, 2005 (SEATTLE) — WizKids Inc., makers of the popular Mage Knight™, HeroClix®, and MechWarrior® collectable miniatures games (CMGs), is proud to announce the release of MechWarrior: Age of Destruction, the newest base set for the MechWarrior game.

“The Age of Destruction set returns MechWarrior to its roots,” said Jordan Weisman, WizKids® CEO. “The ’Mech™ is once again king of the battlefield, and you can customize it with hundreds of combinations, including adding famous pilots from the MechWarrior universe.” Other additions include updated rules, support for various factions and a reintroduction of classic Houses from the BattleTech® universe.

Each MechWarrior: Age of Destruction Starter Set (MSRP $29.99) contains everything two people need to play the game, including 10 unique units, combat enhancement cards, rules, a die, terrain, a playmat, and a ruler. Each MechWarrior: Age of Destruction Booster Pack (MSRP $9.99) contains one ’Mech, one vehicle, two infantry, and three combat enhancement cards.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Destiny Board Traveler Reader Review (GBA)

This game is insanely hard to those who are new to Yu-Gi-Oh!. There
are no tutorials or anything of the sort. Ann the game takes away the
purpose of playing Yu-Gi-Oh in the first place. Rather than using
cards, you play with dice. And I don't mean Dungeon Dice Duel-like
dice. Plus it could take forever to beat the whole game. However,
there is a flare of hope to this game, wich is the promos. Two out of
three of them are great. There's D. D. Assailant, Emes the Infinity,
and Twinheaded Beast. FullStory

Girls get their own keepsake cards

Trading cards have always had a high testosterone content of baseball players and creepy monsters.

Now a new company, LocaSmarts, is making trading cards with a more feminine appeal for girls between 7 and 12 years old. U Go Grl comes with tips on hair styles, bubble baths and soccer kicks.

The cards encourage girls to try new activities, which is a lesson not lost on company founders, Shirley James, Chrisann Joson and Carol Farmer. FullStory

AVALON HILL Announces 2005 Line-up; Pirates, Robots and Casino Magnates Help Iconic Board Game Brand Launch Exciting New Titles and Reintroduce Classics

Attendees of this winter's Game Manufacturer's Association (GAMA) trade show in Las Vegas are in for a special treat as iconic strategy board game brand AVALON HILL premiers the five games that will make-up its 2005 product lineup. FullStory

Youth Gym Usage Up 15% After PS2 Games Installed

Back at the tail end of last year, Liverpool City Council installed gym equipment with Sony Playstation games consoles fitted to them, in an effort to induce the local youth to come to the gym.

At the time, Councillor Warren Bradley, Executive Member for Leisure was quoted as saying "By fitting television screens and games consoles to the equipment, we will be able to show children that they can combine their favourite activity with exercise. And by teaching children about the positive benefits of exercise." FullStory

PS2 puts 'Snake Eater' back in Cold War

Don't let the funny title fool you - this offering from Japanese video game guru Hideo Kojima is serious fun.

Whether I was wading through the squishy muck of an alligator-infested swamp or breathlessly lunging through a forest to dodge arrows from an invisible enemy, Snake Eater is a varied, addictive game that's equal parts Rambo action and James Bond gadgetry. FullStory

Resident Evil 4 Reader Review

This game pushed the Gamecubes graphical ability close to the limit, or mabye even the limit who knows, either way this game may possible steal the "Best Game Of 2005" when the time comes around.

Gameplay is near perfect, minus one thing that I find gets annoying when you expect it to be there, and your trying to figure out how to do it while an angry, infected villager is just around the bend waiting to spring on you. Thats right, no strafing left or right, luckly there are only few places in the game where it would be nice to have. FullStory

Delta Force - Black Hawk Down Announced for PS2
Coming in Q2 2005 and supporting 32 players online.

Entertainment software developer and publisher NovaLogic, Inc. today announced that a new version of the best selling PC title Delta Force® - Black Hawk Down® is currently under development for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. FullStory

Sunday, Jan. 23 A Pokemon City Championship Competition

11 a.m. at Ocean Springs Library, located at 525 Dewey Ave. Ocean Springs, Mississippi. It is free to enter. Call or e-mail to pre-register to guarantee you Machop City Promo Card. Modified Constructed Format using Ruby/Sapphire cards and newer only. Medals will be awarded for first place in each group of 10-year olds, 11- to 14-year olds and 15 years and up. E-mail pokemon_ex_ms@yaho-o.com or call (228) 818-9689 to pre-register or for more information.
Visit www.geocities.com-/pokemon_ex_ms/pokemon.html for more information. FullStory

Is the sun setting on the GameCube?
Nintendo scores big with portables but its console future is foggy

To say that Nintendo ended 2004 on a roll is an understatement. The video game giant's new handheld system, the dual-screen Nintendo DS, rocketed to the top of many holiday gift lists and ultimately sold more than 1.3 million systems in North America -- and a very similar number in Japan. The firm's venerable Game Boy Advance had a banner year, selling more than 8 million units on the strength of a huge catalog of games, including the best-selling "Pokemon" titles.

But there is a strange post-holiday silence from Nintendo about the GameCube, Nintendo's console competitor to Sony's unstoppable PlayStation 2 (which has shipped 80 million units worldwide) and Microsoft's finally-on-fire Xbox, which enjoyed a massive fourth quarter based on the blockbuster status of "Halo 2" and continued interest in Xbox Live, its online gaming service. FullStory

Thumb up or down? Reviews of 11 new Nintendo DS games

Video game giant Nintendo released its new handheld game system, the Nintendo DS, to much fanfare in December with the hope it would find an audience with the older teens and young adults its GameBoy system never did.

The Nintendo DS is unique among handheld video game systems. With built-in Wi-Fi and two screens (one of them touch sensitive), the challenge now is for game makers to take advantage of these features.

The Associated Press reviewer Michael Felberbaum gives his look at 11 new DS games, from best to worst on a four-star scale. FullStory