Boy, oh boy
Nintendo of America is poised to launch the next-generation Game Boy Advance handheld games console on June 11.
The system will sell for $99.95, with games priced at $29.95 to $39.95.
More than 60 titles have been scheduled, including Super Mario Advance and F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (Nintendo), Rayman (Ubi Soft), Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 (Midway) and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (Activision).
In Japan, Tsunekazu Ishihara, who is in charge of Pokémon production, said a new series of Pokémon games will be launched for the Game Boy Advance next year.
These will use a new GBA peripheral, the E-Card Reader. Pokémon E-Card trading cards will hold up to 2K of data on creatures using a barcode-style system called Scan Talk, developed by Olympus Optical.
Myst taken
Ubi Soft, the fast-growing French software house, has confirmed that it is taking over The Learning Company's games business. The division's 88 titles include Myst III: Exile, which is likely to be a best-seller, Pool of Radiance, Prince of Persia, Chessmaster, Dogz, and Catz. Ubi Soft has recently taken over Red Storm in the US and, last month, Blue Byte in Germany. Toy manufacturer Mattel bought TLC for $3.8bn in 1998. Last October it gave TLC to Gores Technology Group for an undisclosed share of future profits.
Hard luck
Sony PlayStation 2 owners can now store their saved games on a PC hard drive instead of using a memory card. Once saved, the game data can be e-mailed to friends or uploaded to the net. What makes this possible is Datel's £29.99 X-Port system, which includes a USB cable and software for Microsoft Windows 98/Me. However, you have to save games using a standard memory card before you can transfer them to a PC. Datel is selling X-Port online at www.d3world.com.
Strip off
Sex and football are being combined in Swing Entertainment's new quiz game, The Daily Sport Football Strip. The £14.99 game features four girls stripping off their kit when fans answer questions correctly. It will be published on March 30 by Virgin Interactive.
