...They make another one, and tick off many consumers in the process.

The DSi has been on market for nearly a year now, and already Nintendo is apparently prepping a new revision of said hardware -- though this time it isn't as significant as the DSi itself was. With this revision, they are going to further increase the size of the screens: to about four inches to be exact, which is roughly the same size as the PSP 3000's screen.

It is said to be released before the years end in Japan, with no word on release in other territories.

Out of all the revisions the console has seen thus far, this one has to be most unnecessary of the bunch. Bigger screens are nice and all, but do we really need them? The ones on the DSi are big enough, make it any bigger, and you'll have yourself some rather ugly lookin' games, as the bigger screens would no doubt give them a slightly more pixelated look to 'em. And I doubt many people would want that.

Also, if you already have a DSi and are considering getting one of these (assuming they become available outside Japan, and knowing Nintendo, they probably will) and have bought some games off the DSi Store, you'd have to rebuy all those games again, because they can't be transferred from one system to another, thereby further reducing any incentive to buy one of these.

I have to wonder why they would do this; I mean, isn't two DS's enough? What purpose could this possibly serve, other than to attempt to get us to buy yet another version of the same system? I swear, Nintendo's just as bad Sony and Microsoft now, seeing as they all release a new hardware configuration every few months. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if they begin to do the same with the Wii (though I hope they wouldn't).

The past year has seen much rumors and speculation regarding the Wii's eventual successor, with many believing that a "Wii HD" is on its way. The speculation of the new console coming sometime between 2010 and 2011, however, was almost proved false when president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, saying that a new console is still a ways off back in August. And while that still stands currently, it doesn't necessarily mean that a new console isn't in the works.

As a recent statement from Nintendo creative lead Shigeru Miyamoto has offered a small taste of what we may expect to see from the as of yet unannounced console.

"With both the Wii Remote itself and Wii Motion Plus, what we've been able to do is introduce an interface that is both I think appealing and at the right price for a broad audience," he said during in interview with Popular Mechanics. "And while we don't have any concrete plans for what we'll be doing with hardware in the future, what I can say is that, my guess is that because we found this interface to be so interesting, I think it would be likely that we would try to make that same functionality perhaps more compact and perhaps even more cost-efficient."

Obviously the system is still in the early planning stages currently, as evident by how they "don't have any concrete plans" yet. But his comment on making it more "compact" is intriguing. As the current host of the motion functionality, the Wii remote, is rather compact already, so what could possibly be done to increase that aspect, and what would the benefit for doing so be?

If it's related to the "more cost-efficient" remark he made, then I suppose I could see the benefits of this. As if it can reduce the cost of device, that could help them in a variety of ways, such as possibly increasing the profitability of said device.

Though given his comment on there being no set plans currently, this could (and probably is) just one of the many possible things they could do with the system, and might not see fruition. That said, the fact that a new console is in the works, gives a glimmer of truth to the aforementioned predictions made by analysts and industry members alike. But whether or not a "Wii HD" will be coming in 2011 or so, remains to be seen.

Following the success of the videogame market, there were (and still are) many who developed small electronic game devices that host a variety of simple games that one could walk into a store and buy for a cheap price. The games on these devices paled in comparison to those of consoles, but they obviously still saw some success at retail, otherwise they would have vanished from store shelves some time ago.

Why do I bring this up? Because if a recent statement made by Activision CEO Robert Kotick is true, then Activision games may follow the way in which those games are played: No console required to play.

The quote in question mentioned plans for a "untethered Guitar Hero," and said to expect many of their "products to be playable independent of a console."

In other words, you'll no longer require a console to play games, specifically ones by Activision. And instead, I suspect, will simply have to pug something (possibly the peripheral) into your television to play, much like how similar peripheral based devices have done.

And for that reason, I can see this being beneficial in some ways. The Guitar Hero franchise is quite popular, and this could get it into the hands of more people, which in turn, brings in more money for Activision. And as with any company, that's reason enough to bring this concept to fruition.

Though I have to wonder how the console makers would feel about this... As this would steal potential sales from them, and I can't imagine that they'd be pleased with that.

Still, the idea has some potential. Though I would suggest not taking this as truth just yet, as comments like these have been made in the past and never reach fruition. But I must admit, it sounds like a probable move from Activision. I mean, they've pretty much made it clear that they'll do anything to make as much money as possible, and since this could help them with that, I can easily see this happening. I mean, it's not like anyone's going to stop them, right?

You know how the Dreamcast died just after the PlayStation 2 launched, and how there weren't anymore games being made for it? Well, it appears that's changed. As a new Dreamcast game titled, Rush Rush Rally racing, was announced today.

You can get the lowdown on the game here if you're interested. As for me, I'm gonna sit here, and try to come to terms with this strange development. I'll let you know how that goes.

Earlier this year, I was introduced to the rather unusual concept of Pong as a rhythm game in the form of Bit.Trip Beat, a downloadable title released via Nintendo's WiiWare service. With its pixelated retro-style visuals, and fun, challenging gameplay, I was hooked instantly. And just when the addiction began to wane, Bit.Trip Core came around and pulled me right back in. And thanks to many small improvements, like a new control styIe, Bit.Trip Core becomes a much better game than its predecessor – albeit with a couple returning shortcomings.

Core picks up where Beat left off, but, just like in Beat, the story is so convoluted and ambiguous that its impossible to tell what's going on, or the meaning behind it, for that matter. So I still don't know what it's about, just yet.

But then, none of you are playing these games strictly for the narrative, are ya (I know I'm not!)? You're playing 'em for the frantic challenging gameplay. Which, at its core (no pun intended), is the same as it was in Beat – minus the new control styIe, that is. As instead of moving a paddle up down to hit pixels known as "beats," you're a plus shaped object in the middle of the screen, which can fire beams of light in four different directions to hit beats. This works really well, and fixes the small accuracy issues that the previous control styIe had. It also makes the game harder in some ways, and easier in some ways.

That last bit is due to the fact that the new control styIe doesn't have a learning curve like the previous one did. All you have to do is press down a direction on the directional pad, and press the 2 button, and you'll fire the aforementioned beam. It doesn't get much simpler than that. And as for it makes the game harder, it's due to the fact that, since you're stuck in the center of the screen, the beats come at you from all sorts of directions which makes it hard to figure out which direction you need to shoot in, especially when the whole screen is flooded by beats (which doesn't happen too often, thankfully). But, as with Beat, a little trial and error, and you'll be making your way through the games three levels with ease.

Speaking of which, that reminds me of one of the returning shortcomings that I mentioned earlier: The number of levels. Now three levels isn't bad considering the length of 'em, and the $6 price, and for Beat I didn't mind that. But for Core, I was left wanting more at the end. Another level or two would have been a great addition. It's not a huge problem, but it was definitely disappointing. The other one is the continued lack of leaderboards. An odd exclusion, considering the score based nature of the game.

Visually, Core is pretty much identical to Beat, as it retains the styIish 8-bit visuals of its predecessor. So everything has a simple, pixelated look to it. And as you do well, the visuals get crazier, like when you enter "super mode" – which continuously gives you points, regardless of whether or not your hitting beats – a rainbow of colors floods the screen, giving it a very "trippy" look, one could say. And when you do bad, the visuals lose their color, and end up with black and white visuals, which looks similar to Pong. The main difference visually between Core and Beat, is that the backgrounds that scroll by during levels aren't anywhere near as distracting as they were in Beat, which is good since it allows you to have an easier time hitting beats, as well as see them. Audio wise, the game uses lots of beeps and boops, which fit the retro feel of the game. It also features some great chiptune music, which further helps convey the retro feel.

Shortcomings aside, Bit.Trip Core is a superb game. The gameplay is still a blast to play, the new control styIe is a huge improvement over the previous one, and is just all-around better game. And at $6 (or 600 Nintendo points), the game is a steal. Anyone seeking a good challenge, or just a fun simple game in general, would do well to check out Bit.Trip Core.