Sega of Europe has finally let out an official press release regarding NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams for the Nintendo Wii video games console. This long-awaited sequel to the original Sega Saturn title is currently being developed by Sega Studios USA and is slated for a Winter 2007 release.

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams put players in the role of a fantasy jester called NiGHTS. Gamers must find new and inventive ways for NiGHTS to use his amazing acrobatic skills, freedom of flight, and other special abilities in a bid to protect Nightopia, a world where dreams come to life, from being consumed by the creatures of nightmare, the Nightmarens.

Some of the new features that will be available in NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams include new shape-shifting abilities for NiGHTS through the use of Persona masks. The Dragon mask transforms NiGHTS into a huge dragon and makes him resistant to wind effects. With the Dolphin mask, he can change into a dolphin and explore under water. Finally, the Rocket mask turns him into a rocket, letting him travel at supersonic speeds.

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams also takes advantage of the Wiimote to give gamers a whole new experience of flying through the seven dream worlds found in the game. The scenery in these world can also be changed according to real-world seasons using the Wii's Forecast Channel. Players will also be able to exchange items with friends via Wii connect 24.

It sounds like an interesting subject for a forum thread, though the reasons really wouldn't require a rocket scientist to figure out. Morgal over at the World of Warcraft Forums posted the answer: there are no level 70 rewards for healing.

Well, yeah. The PvP level 14 rank, Grand Marshal/High Warlord offers a level 60 healing mace (Demolisher or Destroyer) but apparently there isn't any for level 70. Blizzard poster Nethaera was quick to give some good news for the healer lot (a good assortment of them): Healing weapons are on the way with an upcoming patch. I don't have any more specifics on what will be put in as of yet.

Something to look forward to in the game, especially since players have started to be a bit wary of patches (read: nerf bat). We'll keep you posted on the healer pleas in the World of Warcraft as soon as the info becomes available. Stay tuned.

 

Gadgets are often expensive, and always owning the latest gadgets around could leave a deep dent in your pocket. But if you're one of those who exist by burning money, we wish we were you! Other than that, you could amuse yourself with this Personal Rocket Belt from TAM.

Rocket belts, also known as rocket packs or jet packs, are devices worn on the back that use jets of escaping gases, allowing the user to fly. Well, not exactly in the Superman sense, but the rocket belt provides enough thrust to lift a person off the ground for a short 20 second hop. The rocket pack zips you along for as fast as 60 MPH, and can land you safely using a precision throttle and a pitch and yaw control system.

For US$ 250,000 you can get TAM's Rocket Belt custom-made to your size and weight specifications. Included in the package is a machine for making your own rocket fuel, hands-on training including 10 flights in your own rocket belt and expert support. TAM's Rocket Belt will not get you flying far, but it might surely be a fun experience. Good luck affording it though.

After loading up on a fact sheet and a trailer from the recently-concluded GDC, we now bring you an interview with Adrain Sikora, producer for Warhound by Techland. According to Sikora, there are about 25 people currently working on the game, give or take a few coming and going for other simultaneous projects.

That may not sound much, but it appears that development is going along just fine as he reveals that Warhound is in fact already 50% complete. Anyway, you guys already know that this is a mercenary-themed FPS. So what else is there in this game? Says Sikora,

We want the player to have as much freedom as possible, whenever he chooses his missions, weapons, plans his character's training or during combat. In the game, the player has to take care of the training and finances, and he has to secure new contracts. You'll have to watch your competitors and enemies closely, because they might come after you. Our script has multiple plot lines.

Hmmm... interesting, indeed. But there's more. While presently, they are keeping their goals practical, with only a single game ending in mind, the team is still open to the consideration of having alternative endings as well, provided that they still have enough time to work on them.

   

Tackling more the single-player campaign, Sikora explains that it's a matter of progression in the game, getting to the mercenary ranking in order to gain access to more rewarding missions. And the weapons? Well, they're still keeping it an open issue, but they're definitely adding new types and models.

But if you want a quick rundown, there's gonna be half-trucks, quads, APC's, tanks and choppers. Of course, the usual pistols, SMGs, sniper rifles, and rocket launchers will be making an appearance to make the game rock. As for the game's multiplayer bit, no need to worry cos there's definitely a lot of action stashed for you there.

We want to have classic modes, like deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and so on, with up to 32 players. We are also working on our own ranking system for online players, which will also allow you to create custom character classes. You'll also get to use skills and choose equipment just as you'd do in single player. There'll be vehicles in MP too.

Anyhow, only half the battle is done for the guys at Techland. In fact, they have yet to choose a publisher for Warhound. But they are definitely keen on keeping their Q4 deadline for the release. Until then, just keep it locked here for more details.

BBC News reports that the launch of the British military satellite Skynet 5 has been postponed due to a "last minute technical glitch." Apparently, the delay was caused by a fault found in the "deluge" system, which sprays water across the launch pad to keep it cool as the rocket lifts off.

According to the BBC, the Skynet spacecraft will deliver secure, high-bandwidth communications for UK and "friendly" forces. Skynet 5's launch is part of a multi-billion-pound project that aims to allow the Army, Royal Navy and RAF to pass more data faster between command centers.

Engineers are currently investigating the problem. Another launch attempt is planned for Sunday from Kourou, French Guiana. Nobody cared to comment on the possible connection between Skynet's launch delay and the sudden appearance of a naked Austrian bodybuilder in a Los Angeles biker bar.

Fresh off from the GDC, Microsoft announced their plans of launching a 512 MB Memory Unit for their next-gen console, the Xbox 360. Apart from this, they also revealed that they are also bent on increasing the official size limit of the Xbox Live Arcade games from 50 MB to 150 MB.

According to Microsoft, you can expect this upgrade to be available worldwide starting April 3rd of this year for an estimated price of US$ 49.99 in North America. The 512MB memory unit will be pre-loaded with Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, albeit for a limited time only. As for the original 64MB memory unit, they will be dropping the price from US$ 39.99 to US$ 29.99.

According to Chris Early, XBLA production unit manager, "the new size limit offers developers increased flexibility and continued opportunities for innovative game development, while also ensuring that the millions of gamers on Xbox LIVE can continue to easily access, download and play all Xbox LIVE Arcade games on Xbox 360."

Microsoft is expected to present their upcoming games for the XBLA this week at GDC.

• Boom Boom Rocket  (EA and Bizarre Creations) - Spring release for 800 Microsoft Points
• 3D Ultra Minigolf Adventures (Sierra Online and Wanako Games) - the first outdoor sports game on the XBLA where you can putt your way through 36 holes on wild courses, such as the Classic Carnival and Outer Space settings
• Eets: Chowdown (Klei Entertainment Inc.) - a PC original revamped for the Xbox 360 with new items and 120 new levels
• Jetpack Refuelled (Rare Ltd.) - a reinvention of the 1983 space blaster classic with enhanced graphics and new features suited for the XBLA. Expect 100 new high-definition levels to up the challenge.
• Pinball FX (ZEN Studios Ltd.) - now with real-time head-to-head competition features over Xbox LIVE and Xbox LIVE Vision camera support.

They're alive! Or at least their animatronic counterparts anyway. How would you like an appropriately sized Kermit the Frog to entertain you at a theme park?

Worry not. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his trusty assistant Beaker are now roaming Disneyland as a part of the Muppet Mobile Laboratory. They are on a loony looking rocket ship on two wheels. It even looks that Beaker's pedaling the machine. Anyway, here's a video from YouTube by JLOateslll of the duo.

The duo provided some entertainment with a few jokes. The technology looks like it's still in the testing phase. In the middle of a speech, Dr. Bunsen takes a long pause as Beaker pedals back and forth for a while and both suddenly bursts into the Hi-Ho song. After the song, the good doctor says goodbye saying that they are having technical problems with his lunch.

Once they get the bugs out of this technology, it might become the staple "interactive" entertainment in theme parks. Mascots, beware. The Muppets' robot army is taking over the wor- err... theme parks.

 

Can't get enough of giant insects and alien ships? Well, here's another dose of alien shooting fun.

Earth Defense Force 2017 features giant alien insects that would make Godzilla pee his pants (her metaphorical pants) and ginormous alien robots bigger than Voltron. Remember those big alien machines in War of the Worlds? Imagine them in hordes. So how do you beat them? Get some friends and strap on your rocket launcher because you'll be in for a fight.

Earth Defense Force 2017 will be hitting the shelves this March. We'll quit babbling so you can finally watch the videos.

Download: [Earth Defense Force 2017: Insects]
Download: [Earth Defense Force 2017: Machines]

With the Japanese release of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd coming up in a month or so, Capcom seems to be stepping up the ad campaigns, on top of going the extra mile to make the deal as sweet as it could possibly get. So, perhaps to entice the undecided buyer, Capcom has just released a new trailer for this PSP title, and we have to admit that it does look rather tempting.

No, while playing this game you won't have to protect the world from devastation, unite all peoples within our nation, denounce the evils of truth and love, nor extend your reach to the stars above (wrong Team Rocket Poke-monster reference, we know). Instead, we see the hunter in the game doing what hunters should be doing: going after big game, cooking up a good barbecue in the wild, and, uh... gardening.

Now, if only they'd finally tell us when we'll be getting the English version of this game... Oh, and the free scarf.

Remember the old Jules Verne idea of sending people into space by blasting them out of a cannon? Like many a fictional idea, the whole concept's been given a chance at becoming a reality, courtesy of the US Air Force.

Launchpoint Technologies has just received a two-year, $ 500,000 grant from the said U.S. armed service, which involves them proving that it's possible to send non-living matter into space using something in the lines of a gigantic rail-gun

Going into detail, the plans call for the construction a 1.5-mile wide vacuum tunnel. Inserted into this tunnel is a 220-pound capacity sled, which will be driven along by powerful magnets in tube. The sled picks up speed, and as soon as it hits 6 miles per second, the sled is ejected into space by a launch ramp. And for those asking - yeah, it sounds a helluva lot like the Mass Driver facility featured in Gundam SEED.

And if the idea sounds iffy, or you guys were thinking "Why not just use a rocket?", the project's most promising feature is its low cost - the launcher is estimated to burn only USD $ 50,000 per shot, as compared to spending USD $ 5 million dollars for every rocket launch. The launcher's not expected to send up anything live, though, as the 10,000 G's created on launch will turn the next prospective rider into meat sauce...Guld from Macross Plus comes to mind.

“You could send a block of aluminum, water or even frozen mashed potatoes,” project leader Jim Fiske says about the possible cargo for the gun - probably as a means to resupply orbital vehicles like the ISS.  The Air Force plans to use  the launcher to send micro-satellites into orbit upon completion.