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With Microsoft's XBox 360 priced at a record high of $399 (or $299 if you don't want to be able to save or play old games) and the Playstation 3 widely expected to follow suit with a pricetag in the same neighborhood, is next generation gaming out of reach for the underfunded? Not if Nintendo has its say.

Company president Satoru Iwata confirmed in an interview with Yahoo! Japan that the Nintendo Revolution will debut for less than the $299 price tag of the bare bones Xbox system. This also puts the new Nintendo console below the price range of the PS2's launch, and seems to indicate that the Revolution will be priced on par with the Game Cube, which initially sold for $199. Perhaps unfortunately, it's almost certain that this comparative discount comes at the cost of power and graphics technology that Sony and Microsoft fans can expect.

Personally, graphics aren't everything to me--especially when we're talking a difference of at least a hundred smackeroos between the Revolution and the PS3. Given that I'm underfunded and probably won't be able to afford more than one next-gen system (and I can buy the one thanks to the housing allowance on my scholarship), price is important to me. Besides, if the rumors are true, Nintendo is more than making up for their lagging in the graphics department with other innovative features, like the controller and the announced ability to download and play old Nintendo games.

Source: IGN

BioWare, the folks behind several hit online roleplaying games such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the upcoming XBox 360 title, Mass Effect, is holding a contest that could land you a job as a professional writer for the popular game company. How so? As part of their search for fresh and creative ideas to help inspire their future releases, BioWare is asking anyone interested in having their work noticed on a far grander scale to come up with unique concepts for a new Neverwinter Nights module using the Aurora NWN Toolset and Dialogue Editor. If your written work is chosen, you could soon find yourself as a part of the biz!

According to the contest parameters, the module description must contain a maximum of 3500 words or less, including all settings and dialogue in the story; the time period itself must be set within a medieval era, yet possess a fantasyesque atmosphere. Also, no more than four characters are allowed to be present in the module, with only one of which being playable. Additional requirements, guidelines and links to the downloadable tools needed to create a module are listed on the official site's contest page.

A panel of judges on behalf of BioWare will select three of the best submissions as winners, and five more winners will be selected by the Neverwinter Nights community at NWVault. These final eight entries will then be reviewed by Kevin Barrett and James Ohlen - both of the development company's senior staff - with the ultimate prizes in mind: Rewarding the very best writers with an assortment of BioWare merchandise as well as the possibility of hiring the most talented participants as official writers for the company. "BioWare needs good writers to make the best games we can and we are asking all of you to tell us a story."

The contest's submission deadline is January 30th, 2006.

Last May, Nintendo revealed a few minor features relating to the company's newest console, code-named Revolution, at its pre-E3 press conference. One of the most fascinating moments was when Nintendo announced the console would be able to play past games, via download, from systems such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo, the Nintendo 64, and the GameCube. Many fans, however, were disappointed overall to learn they were denied a full viewing and demonstration of the very promising machine and hoped more information would surface within the coming months.

And it did, beginning with the prototype controller that both intrigued many gamers and made others shun away from a system they had yet to see. The slender design combined with the semblance of a television remote indicated many possibilities but also lead to skepticism over whether or not it would function properly and comfortably. Information was coming in slow, and gamers began to conjecture that Nintendo might not unveil the Revolution for another few years.

But now, stated inside an email sent out by the Mario Factory, Nintendo has finally set a specified date for a public showing. With only "a mere 165 days to go (give or take)" the former game king will show off "all the incredible details about Nintendo's upcoming games and hardware, including our next home console, code-named Revolution."

If you did the math, you'll discover that lands around the second week of May. Sure enough, the associated press conference is scheduled for May 9th, 2006 during Nintendo's pre-E3 event. The venue will be Hollywood's Kodak Theatre - which is also the home of the Academy Awards - in California. Nintendo has ensured before that the Revolution will redefine the routine of playing video games, and come next spring thousands of fans will lay witness to just how.

Source: GameSpot

With the X-Box debuting today for $299 or $399 depending on the 'extras' included, the pressure is on for Microsoft's rivals to announce a launch price for their consoles.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer announced to Fortune magazine that he expected the PS3 to launch for between $300 and $400 next spring, making it competitively priced.

This may come as somewhat of a relief to Sony fans, especially after another Sony spokesperson announced that the PS3 would be "very expensive" due to the Blu-Ray DVD technology. Stringer confirmed that the company would be taking a loss on the console price in order to keep it from being prohibitively expensive to gamers.

Stringer also hinted at the release of a media bundle to showcase the PS3s abilities. Whether these will be along the lines of the FFVII "remake" or actual demos of things to come is unknown.

Source: CVG

The brains behind the Final Fantasy concert series Dear Friends and More Friends, JMP Productions, is in the process of putting together another similar program entitled Play! A Video Game Symphony. Select pieces from the soundtracks of various RPGs (and other genres) including The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, World of Warcraft, and the Final Fantasy series will be performed.

Play!, like the Final Fantasy concerts before it, will feature scenes from each game projected on large screens throughout the performances. The music will be conducted by music director and principal conductor of the Chicagoland Pops, Arnie Roth. As reported by 1Up.com, courtesy of Jason Michael Paul and Thomas Boeker, both organizers of the tour, Chrono series composer Yasunori Mitsuda is arranging some of the music for the program, but it is currently unknown which of his songs will be included.

Play! A Video Game Symphony will make its debut in North America April of next year, followed by a worldwide tour. More information as well as an upcoming tour schedule can be found at the concert series' official website.

Source: RPGamer

A Nintendo official at the NSider forums has reported that Nintendo will answer any Wi-Fi Connection questions when its Wi-Fi site launches soon. The site will explain the DS's wireless functions work and where U.S. hotspots are, as well as many more things.

Nintendo's Wi-Fi site will launch next Monday, November 7.

Source: Games Are Fun

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Good news for everyone who, like me, is getting incredibly worked up about the Wi-Fi. I've seen a few of the things detailing how the Wi-Fi works, but i'm really hoping the rest of my questions get answered.