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Wii Warm Up: Coming up next
Here's a simple question: with all the AAA titles (supposedly) being released in 2007, which one are you actually looking forward to the most? Super Smash Bros. Brawl will certainly be a favorite, but recent hype and an unwavering faith in Miyamoto-san make us want to experience Super Mario Galaxy just a tad bit more. Maybe you're looking for the first truly-done-right first-person shooter on the Wii, courtesy of Metroid Prime 3, or perhaps you simply desire a return to a certain blue hedgehog's former glory in Sonic and the Secret Rings. Maybe we're wrong altogether. If you could have just one of the 2k7 games, which would it be? Which title can you just not live without?
Famitsu's top 100 DS games in Japan
Japanese mag Famitsu has compiled, using black magic and voodoo, a list of the top 100 best-selling DS games in Japan. The numbers they use appear to be different from the Media Create numbers we usually use, but one has to wonder how in the world they can claim accuracy down to individual units. We think it has something to do with spirits. Here's the top ten (Japanese sales only, remember), and for the rest, follow the link! 1. More Brain Training (Nintendo) - 3,417,956 sold 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo) - 3,351,234 sold 3. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo) - 3,335,195 sold 4. Pokémon Diamond / Pearl (Nintendo) - 3,060,032 sold 5. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo) - 2,837,394 sold 6. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo) - 1,626,242 sold 7. English Training (Nintendo) - 1,408,243 sold 8. Nintendogs (Nintendo) - 1,335,185 sold 9. Big Brain Academy (Nintendo) - 1,299,188 sold 10. Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop (Bandai) - 1,110,046 sold
Mobile phones make payments at Coca-Cola machines
In a not too distant future, consumers in the good olD US of A will be able to walk up to vending machines and make Coca-Cola purchases using their cellphone. The same VeriSign Coke apparently intends to use already links the cellular operators and over 100 vending machines across Austria for customers of Mobilkom and ONE wireless. No word on whether or not this is going to use RFID or something, but we think it'd be in their best interests to keep it simple, and rock it SMS style. Now to figure out a use for all the change in our pockets. [Via Slashphone]
Venzero getting Lifesaver, miniONE, lil'ONE and ONE out the door
Those crazy kids over at Venzero have been so busy padding their product line, it seems like they keep forgetting to actually ship their growing group of media players and on-the-go storage devices. Well, they've finally gotten around to prepping these things for reals, and are now taking pre-orders for their initial shipments on October 2nd for the miniONE and lil'ONE players, along with the Lifesaver storage unit. Of course, they couldn't help themselves with one more spec announcement: they're bumping the Venzero ONE to 12GB of storage, and will be shipping it on October 17th. As for prices, the Lifesaver comes in 8 and 12GB flavors, starting at $149, the miniONE does 1 or 2GB, starting at $119, the lil'ONE starts at $199 with 6 and 8GB options, and the 12GB ONE tops 'em all out at $289. Venzero also has a "mystery" product on their page, that looks to have the rough dimensions of a closed DS lite, which seems to imply they're prepping a widescreen video player of sorts for their next project -- but we'll be happy enough if they actually manage to ship this first batch next week.
Venzero ONE media player spotted, snapped
The last time we saw a Venzero ONE, it was at a café in New York and was in severely pre-production condition; a little rickety, a little shaky, but still showed some real potential. Now, from here it's a little difficult to tell of these new shots of the ONE in the wild indicate that it's much closer to completion than it was a few months ago, but we hope they move fast and get this thing out because in a couple months the Zune and the MusicGremlin (and maybe even the wireless iPod) could make this device's big selling point, the Shareport USB file swapping system, a little shall we say, démodé.[Via DAPreview]
Venzero's LilOne HDD-based 6GB MP3 player
While everyone else has been busy watching the World Cup, it appears Venzero has been in the labs, creating a new middle child for their ever-expanding One line of DAPs. At 6GB, the LilOne fits snugly between the original, full-featured 8GB model and the minimalistic, flash-based Mini version that was announced last month. Like it's siblings, the LilOne will play MP3s and WMAs (with and without DRM), with a 1.5-inch screen providing access to short videos and photos. Other features include a 20-hour battery life, a €200 pricetag and the kitschy MusicMarker feature that helps you identify songs you hear on the radio. We're assuming it was size restraints that kept this player from getting the handy retractable USB connector of the original One, but that shouldn't prevent it from giving players like iRiver's E10 and Sandisk's Sansa e260 a little gentlemanly competition.[Via DAPReview]Update: Even though we've seen this around for €200, Venzero is insisting that it'll only cost $200 when it drops in the US. Score!
Venzero announces Venzero One
Remember that mysterious Venzero audio player that MusicMarker service was getting integrated into? Well, they announced what it is today: the Venzero ONE. Turns out it'll be a 3.8 x 2.3 x 0.55-inch 8GB audio player with an FM tuner, 2-inch QVGA display, FM radio, mic recording (for MusicMarker, of course), OGG and PlaysForSure support, video playback, a 90dB SNR, and even a lightweight RSS reader. It's also got a built-in full size USB On-The-Go port and retractable USB connector (what they're calling Shareport), so you can dock your Venzero with another -- or any other mass-storage compliant device, for that matter -- and move around data, apparently also including DRMed music (assuming, of course, your Venzero ONE is authorized with a PlaysForSure service). Should be available mid-June this year for $289.
