...assuming Criterion makes it an arcade-style racer instead of the simulation-style that the series has used for past few years.

So, yeah. Criterion Games, the makers of the critically acclaimed, and just plain awesome, Burnout series, was revealed to be developing the next Need for Speed title for next year. Which, the way I see it, can either end up being the best thing to happen to this series in ages, or it could just be another step toward the series' demise.

I'm hoping for the former, personally. Especially if it ends up being an arcade-styIe racer, as that's the kind of racing games I like. Simulation-styIe while fine (DiRT 2 was pretty fun), isn't really my thing. But even then, I might just play it because it's from Criterion. That's what got me to play Black originally, and subsequently got me into the first-person shooter genre, so it's not out of the realm of possibility.

And who knows, if this goes well, then maybe they'll get Criterion to make other games for them, like that Burnout rhythm game Shaun came up with on the HotSpot a while back.

You know, what? Forget Need for Speed. They should be making that rhythm game instead. Make it happen EA!

...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.