We know you don’t need an incentive to whip out your DS and join our LAN…but just to heat things up a bit Core Gaming has sponsored some cool prizes for our next get together.

So better start warming up your stylus because we have awesome Wii lanyards and Wii peak caps up for grabs.

Join us at the Twin Falls Spur in Kloof this Friday, the 29th of August at around 7. See how you fair against the El33tonline team and the Rebound crowd in Mario Kart Wii, Metroid Prime Pinball, Tetris and even Brain Training.

And remember, if it looks like fun, it is fun!

Earlier in the month we reported that The Xbox Lounge had been replaced by the new Gamer Lobby. With the first phase of the new website and name change under their belt, Gamer Lobby today announced that it is now a multiplatform site.

This means that whether you are an Xbox 360, PS3 or PC gamer, you can head over to Gamer Lobby to create or find a match.

Head over to Gamer Lobby to check out the new site and hook up with other gamers for the 360, PS3 or PC.

The iMP PowerFit Battery is the answer to your Wii Fit woes! It is a replacement rechargeable battery for the Wii Balance Board that increases your playing time and, because it is able to be charged over 500 times, cuts out your need to buy replacement batteries.

With more games on the horizon that will make use of the Wii Balance Board (such as Family Ski), its clear that the Balance Board is here to stay. The iMP PowerFit Battery conveniently replaces the four batteries that are required for the Balance Board with just one, meaning you have less time to worry about replacing batteries and more time to play.

Simply plug the battery into the USB port on your Wii using the included cable to charge it – you can even play and recharge the battery at the same time.

The iMP PowerFit Battery costs R199 and is available at ToyZone, AnimeWorx, Kalahari, Take 2 and BT Games.

The iMP Pro Store Case is a great option if you want to protect your DS from scratches but don’t really want an extra bag to have to carry. The case acts as a shell around your DS that you never have to take off; you can play games while its on without much more than a slightly heavier weight to hold - which isn’t a problem unless you’re playing stylus based games where you don’t hold the DS vertically like The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass or Geometry Wars: Galaxies. Some might even find the added layer of polycarbonate makes the DS Lite easier to hold as it may fit their hands better.

In addition to the protection the case provides, there is also some storage space - below the bottom half of the DS the case has a little tray that pops out when you pull on it. This tray is able to hold 3 DS game cartridges and a stylus - in fact you have to store your stylus here as the case covers over the original stylus cavity. The tray is both fun and functional, and the whole package, including a stylus, comes in red, pink and black for just R99. The iMP Pro Store Case is available at ToyZone, AnimeWorx, Kalahari and Take 2.

If you have been devoting your racing time to Mario Kart Wii, be warned that the next DS LAN will be held on the 29th of August and it will be clearly evident if you have been neglecting your Mario Kart DS daily practices sessions.

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, leave your inhibitions at the door because I can assure you that your opponents will not hesitate to leave you in the dust or hurl a red shell your way.

Join us at the Twin Falls Spur in Kloof on the 29th of this month at around 7. We also play Metroid Prime Pinball, Tetris and the occasional round of Brain Training.

Calling all 360 gamers…Rebound are organising an Xbox 360 LAN in Durban on the 11th of October. There are only 40 spaces so make sure you sign up at www.rebound.co.za and pay your R60 entrance fee to secure your spot today.

All you need to do after signing up is show up at Queensburgh Boys High on the day with your 360, TV and any multiplayer games you want to try out. The last 360 LAN saw gamers diving into Halo 3, Gears of War and Call of Duty 4, with a bit of Guitar Hero on the side.

In case you are not an EA member, here’s a heads-up that The EA Gaming Roadshow has kicked off in SA. From the 7th of August to the 28th of December you will have the opportunity to play the latest EA games on different gaming platforms, including Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PS3, PC and mobile.

EA will be taking the roadshow around the country, visiting Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, PE and Bloemfontein. Be sure to check it out in your city because some cool prizes are up for grabs, including EA Games as well as a KIA Picanto.

El33tonline has contacted EA for more details so stay tuned for more information on which games will be showcased as well as exactly what prizes you can look forward to. Head over to www.ea.co.za to see when the roadshow will be at a mall near you.

Guitar Hero: World Tour will be arriving on South African shelves on the 7th of November. This is the latest word from Megarom, who also confirmed the pricing for the game.

The Super Bundle for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii will retail at R1 999 while the PS2 version will cost R1 799. The standalone game will set you back R599 on the PS3 and 360, R499 on the Wii and R399 on the PS2. For an additional R199 you can walk away with the microphone.

Please note that the date and prices are still subject to change.

Guitar Hero: World Tour gives players the chance to play a single instrument or a combination of instruments as well as experience playing in a band with friends. The game will feature wireless instruments including a redesigned and more responsive guitar controller, a genuine electronic drum kit (featuring three drum pads, two raised cymbals and a bass kick pedal) as well as a microphone.

Post continues, click to read more…

Ster-Kinekor, South Africa’s distributor for all things PlayStation, has recently announced their intention to launch the 80GB PS3 during the Really Awesome Gaming Event (rAge) in early October.

Ster-Kinekor/PlayStation marketing manager, Yvonne Truter, said, “During the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), in Los Angeles, PlayStation brought out an 80GB model and said there will be no more 60GB PS3s. We will be launching the 80GB model during rAge.”

An open and shut case, then? Not quite. Jacqui Jacobs, marketing and promotions manager at Tide Media, the organiser of rAge, says she’s unaware of any new consoles launching at the event, continuing to say, “yet we do not dictate to our exhibitors what to showcase. rAge is intended to grow the awareness and interest in gaming as a whole.”

In any case, rAge really will be an awesome gaming event this year. If you’re in the Northgate area around the 3rd to the 5th of October, drop by the Coca-Cola Dome to check out a huge showcase of the latest in gaming and technology.

El33tonline has contacted Ster-Kinekor and will let you know more information about pricing and dates soon.

Source: My Digital Life

Core Gaming revealed some interesting South African sales figures at the recent launch of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This data, provided by GFK Statistics, gives us a clearer indication of how the console race is being run in SA.

Total gaming and Home Market Share

Let’s start by taking a look at the total gaming market in SA. Home consoles led the charge in Quarter 4 of 2007 with 87% while handheld consoles trailed with 12% and the remaining 1% was allocated to other. Quarter 1 of 2008 saw handheld consoles gaining slightly with 15% but home consoles still dominated at 83% and other remained at 1%.

Moving ahead to Quarter 2 of 2008, home consoles still lead with 74% while handheld decreased to 10% and other increased to 15%. Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Gaming Systems, speculated that the other category could include mobile gaming.

Turning now to consider the Home Market Share related to second generation and third generation consoles (called previous generation and next generation consoles for the purposes of this article), it is clear that the next generation consoles lead the race and that their lead is increasing each quarter.

Quarter 4 of 2007 saw the previous generation and next generation consoles facing off pretty equally with the previous at 48% and next gen at 52%. However, by Quarter 1 of 2008 the next gen consoles had pulled away with 58% in comparison to previous gens 42% and Quarter 2 of 2008 saw next gen increasing this lead to 65% while previous gen trailed with 35%.

Post continues, click to read more…

Yesterday at the launch of Super Smash Bros. Brawl we got the chance to sit down with Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Gaming Systems, and ask some hard-hitting questions.

So, without further ado, straight from their mouths to your eyes.

Titles and pricing

The first question was regarding why we haven’t seen DS titles that have already been released in Europe arrive in South Africa yet. Titles specifically mentioned include the popular Phoenix Wright series and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Interest was also shown in Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which has not yet been released in Europe to the best of my knowledge, but which Core Gaming has luckily received one copy of to try out and which they describe so far as addictive. Grose answered that Core Gaming’s strategy is to bring the historical titles into SA first so these titles will follow after the back titles have been released here.

Next up was a query about the pricing of both the Wii and DS. Grose explained that Core Gaming works out the prices based on the European market. Core Gaming is given European prices and must add import charges as well as their own and retailers’ margins to the pot. He assures us that our prices are within 10% of Europe and reminds us that we should only look at European prices, not those of America or Japan.

Each time the exchange rate has increased, Core Gaming has absorbed this loss, bearing in mind that the exchange rate has just started to come down over the past week and that they have been dealing with fluctuating exchange rates since the Wii and DS were launched here last year. Both retailers and Core Gaming have been slashing their margins in an attempt to stay true to the consumer.

Post continues, click to read more…

As quickly as they appeared, tickets for the rAge NAG LAN have been sold out. The bookings for the event were available from the 1st of August and, within the week, 1,800 tickets were sold to the eagerly awaiting LANners of South Africa.

If you had secured a ticket, you would have been treated to 53 hours of non-stop, PC-networked, multiplayer-focussed gaming bliss. Imagine 1,800 computers all connected up to one another! Imagine the multiplayer possibilities! Imagine the fragging opportunities! Imagine the mess! Maybe next year…

You can still go and check out the LAN, sans computer, at the Coca-Cola Dome in Northgate through the weekend of October 3rd to the 5th. If you manage to get to the Dome, there will also happen to be a huge gaming and technology event proceeding at the same time, called the Really Awesome Gaming Event, or rAge. Just in case you wanted to know.

Visit the rAge website for more information.

Earlier in the week we brought you tidings of a listing for Link’s Crossbow Training surfacing on Nintendo’s website. Yesterday at the launch of Super Smash Bros. Brawl we got the scoop on when the game will officially arrive here and how much we can expect to pay.

Link’s Crossbow Training should start appearing on South African shelves this October. The game will retail at R349, a fairly reasonable price tag considering it comes bundled with the Wii Zapper.

The Wii Zapper is a gun-like apparatus that the Wii Remote and Nunchuk fit snugly inside (with the Nunchuk’s chord wrapped safely inside a handy compartment). The latest accessory from Nintendo allows you to play arcade style games in your living room.

The Wii Remote slides on top of the gun, the barrel as it were, while the Nunchuk forms the gun handle. There is a grip beneath the barrel for your right hand, while your left hand wraps around the lower handle and the Nunchuk.

Post continues, click to read more…

We attended the launch of Super Smash Bros. Brawl in Johannesburg yesterday. The event was held at the offices of Core Gaming, with the company choosing to focus on smaller groups to launch a title rather than a large crowd. In doing so Core Gaming hope to focus more on the game being launched and address questions from the gaming media directly. This is a concept that I am sure the gaming community will embrace since we can raise concerns, ask questions and generally have our voices heard.

Four groups of roughly eight gaming media met, two met yesterday and two will be meeting later today. In addition the Nintendo Team will be winging their way down to Cape Town next week to showcase the game to the media there. As usual Core Gaming took good care of us, with a large flat-screen TV with SSBB set up, lavish food and drinks and a briefing about the game, the line-up for the rest of the year as well as interesting sales figures and a rundown of E3 which members of Core Gaming also attended. We also walked away with review copies of key upcoming titles so look out for reviews of these soon.

After the brawling had simmered down between the attending media and members of Core Gaming, it was down to serious business. Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Gaming Systems, began by highlighting Nintendo’s continued dedication to draw in new gamers as well as lapsed gamers, dubbed the Blue Ocean Strategy. He believes that a growing catalogue of games as well as retailers restrategising to make their gaming spaces larger and more interactive will help Nintendo achieve this goal.

Post continues, click to read more…

Wii Fit has become something of a global phenomenon since its launch, with consumers from around the world eager to get the product into their hands and homes. This popularity comes despite the new health and fitness game from Nintendo, the brainchild of Shigeru Miyamoto, being dogged with supply constraints from the get go.

It seems that even Nintendo did not anticipate the warm welcome the game would receive. According to Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Gaming Systems, Wii Fit sold out in the UK within a week while Europe’s stock was cleaned out in two weeks. South African stock disappeared off the shelves within three to four weeks and both retailers’ stock and Core Gaming’s warehouse stock is now exhausted.

Grose estimates that roughly 8 000 units have been sold in South Africa to date and attributes the higher sales figures in the UK and Europe to pre-ordering and internet sales, a phenomenon which has yet to take off in SA. You have only to read numerous media reports to know that the US was not exempt from the problem, with most retailers selling out of stock within a few hours of it arriving at stores and many gamers still not able to locate a copy today.

Grose believes that sales figures in PAL territories were driven by the fact that the game was launched in Europe before the US. However, Nintendo soon switched the manufacturing supply over to the US, leading to rising demands across Europe and the UK. He reassured us that the manufacturing has just been switched back to PAL, so we should see more stock hitting the shelves soon and a greater continuity of stock as well.

Grose also pointed out that the attachment rate of Wii Fit is currently about 20% (ie. 20% of Wii owners own Wii Fit), something which Core Gaming expects will increase to 40% once there is a continuity of stock here.

Post continues, click to read more…