There where rumors, but now it is finally there: The new Nintendo DSi. The souped up version of the Nintendo DS will feature 2 bigger screens (3.25 inch instead of 3), a 3 megapixel camera, a SD port (you can finally play music on your DS out of the box). The DSi will come with access to the DS Shop, and until 2010 every purchased DSi will come with 1000 Nintendo Points to spend in the shop (10 dollars).

It will launch in Japan on November 1st and will cost around 18,900 Yen (179 dollar, or 129 euro).

(Sources: GamaSutra, Wired and Nintendo Japan)

MIDDLETOWN, USA — Michelle Allen's mugshot was circulated more than a "Got Milk?" advertisement by media around the world, from New York to California and from The Smoking Gun to perezhilton.com after she was arrested in a cow costume. (see here)

Allen, 32, was charged with disorderly conduct Saturday, Sept. 27, after she, wearing a cow suit, impeded traffic and chased children, according to Middletown police. Allen was told by officers earlier in the evening to stay home after she caused a disturbance in the 3100 block of Wilbraham Road, chasing children in a cow suit and urinating on a neighbor's porch.

At about 11 p.m., she was found in the 2400 block of North Verity Parkway blocking traffic. Allen was sentenced to a month in jail for the incident, according to police records.

(Source: Middle Town Journal)

A lot of people amongst us love to play games, and unfortunately for some of them, the time of big boxes, that exclusive gizmo you got with it, or other merchandise with big games are over. More and more games are available in the stores come with a very simple CD case, and only if you are lucky, with a printed manual. In those cases, it is more and more appealing to download your game online. But in most cases, EA and consorts are very notorious with this, you still have to remember long access codes, keys and whatnot. Enter the world of download services such as Steam, Direct2Drive and Impulse. Granted, my personal favorite is Steam, but more because all my friends are on there as well. ExtremeTech took a look at the best known download services here.

Quentin Long here with the latest news about his furzine, ANTHRO: The 7th
thru 12th issues -- ANTHRO's second year of existence -- is now available in
paperback form. In other words, ANTHROlogy TWO is on sale! Buy this book, and more
than 630 pages of furry ANTHRO goodness can be yours to read at any time of
day or night, regardless of the state of your internet connection. And what's
actually in those 630-odd pages? Glad you asked!

[ Read the rest ... ]

It was already known that Ensemble Studio's will bite the dust after the Halo RTS 'Halo Wars' will be completed. It was also said that they canceled another Halo related project, but it was not known what. But now it has become known: It is a Halo MMO, developer-release screenshots and other material can be found on GamaSutra.

More concept art, UI mockups and alike can be found here.

Quentin 'Cubist' Long here with a special announcement: ANTHRO #19 is online! Okay, this maybe isn’t all *that* special, what with the fact that it’s happened 18 times before... but considering how many other magazines have failed within their first year, it says something that ANTHRO has lasted *three* years plus change! As per usual, I recommend that if you like ANTHRO, you should support it -- purchase ANTHRO art at [ [link] ], or buy some of the great anthropomorphic books listed at [ [link] ], or even donate or subscribe [ [link] ].

[link] -- the zine proper
[link] -- The ANTHRO Mall
[link] -- ANTHRO Press: We got books!
[link] -- Graphic Descriptions: We got posters and t-shirts, too!

[ Read the rest ... ]

Furry Art Pile, an art archive and social networking site, has ceased operation after a little less than two years. On the morning of August 28, 2008, those accessing the site saw the following message:

FAP started two years ago to satisfy an itch, to be a better art website. For furries.
In this time, FAP grew into a very fun project. I developed solutions to very difficult technical problems, created new user interfaces, and learned a lot about maintaining a social website.
Two years later, this isn't fun for me anymore. I spend too much time everyday developing new features and optimizing the code to perfection; I never have time for my other projects. (Trust me, they're awesome projects).

So, I'm closing FAP.

Thank you for using FAP,

Dylan

PS:
FAP will continue to host files until the end of the month (when the donations run out).

More information can be found on the WikiFur entry on Furry Art Pile, by now the domain is being forwarded to a Rick Roll video on Youtube.

Twentieth Century Fox said on Monday it will seek an injunction to block release of the Warner Bros movie "Watchmen" after a Los Angeles court ruled a copyright lawsuit against Warner can go forward. The movie about raffish, flawed superheroes -- which has already been shot -- is slated for release on March 6, said Warner Bros spokesman Scott Roe. The highly anticipated film, with a budget believed to be about $120 million, is based on a 1980s DC Comics graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons.

In his decision released last week, Judge Gary Feess of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California wrote that Fox could hold some of the rights to the material, even if it did not hold all rights. Fox argues it acquired motion picture rights to the "Watchmen" graphic novel in the last 1980s, and that even though it relinquished certain rights to the material in 1991 it held onto the right to distribute the first movie.

[ Read the rest ... ]

"After Shigeru Miyamoto developed a love of puzzles, the "brain-training" software that has proved to be an international "killer application" on the Nintendo DS console was born. He became interested in taking more exercise, and Wii Fit was created. He took up music lessons, and Wii Music was the result. Now, according to sources at Nintendo, the games designer has been banned by the company from speaking publicly about his hobbies."

(Source: Slashdot.org)

New laws planned to stop 'dangerous teen trends'.

A new Russian law could make being an emo kid illegal in the eastern European country. Legislation is currenting being formulated in Russia to heavily regulate emo websites and ban emo and goth dress style in schools and government buildings.

The new laws are apparently being driven by fears that these "dangerous teen trends" encourage depression and suicide. The legislation was presented last month at a hearing held by the State Durma, where critics claimed that the "negative" emo culture encourages anti-social behaviour and glorifies suicide.

Emo kids were described as teenagers who wear black, have facial piercings and black hair with fringes that "cover half the face", reports The Guardian and The weekend saw mass protests by Russian emo kids.

In Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, where laws are already being implemented, protestors in a march held signs saying "A Totalitarian State Encourages Stupidity". Dmitry Gilevich of Russian emo band MAIO stepped in backing the protests, saying: "Expressing psychological emotions is not forbidden by law."

However, emo critics remain unconvinced. Alexander Grishunin, an adviser to bill sponsor Yevgeny Yuryev, described a ban as necessary, stating: "This is the first step in the public discourse." The moves in Russia follow criticism of the genre in the UK earlier this year, which saw My Chemical Romance fans protesting at the offices of British newspaper The Daily Mail over their coverage which linked emo with suicide.

(Source: NME.com, and Paper edition of Metro)