Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you have a great year, and also hope you enjoyed 2008.

And don't worry, I'll release the details on the new Japanese AC: City Folk DLC that came out today!

Animal Crossing: City Folk - Jingle Set

Sorry for the delay on this one. I had the video uploaded around 3pm yesterday, but had trouble connecting to the host to get the embed code.

Anyway, here it is, the video showing off all the Jingle furniture. Hope everyone who doesn't have the game yet enjoys this video.

Animal Crossing: City Folk - Jingle

Merry Christmas everyone! As you all know, Jingle comes to your town in City Folk only on December 24th (Christmas Eve), and seeing as there are many people who don't have a Wii yet, I decided to take a video showing how Jingle works, including what you have to do in order to prevent him from recognizing you, if you want more than one gift.

Check out the video below, and expect a video showing off all the furniture on December 26th:

Animal Crossing: City Folk - more details on the new JP DLC

Thanks to a friend who has the Japanese version of City Folk, I've got the new item DLC in my game. Here's some new details on it:

- English name is "red Pikmin"
- The hex code is AEB0, so now you can hack them into the game

Animal Crossing: City Folk - Japan's first DLC out now!

The first DLC for Animal Crossing: City Folk is out in Japan now. Check out this video Josh from WiiFolder.com made, showing off the Pikmin hat:

Zyetendo reaches 1 million hits in one month!

I've got amazing news guys. I just checked my traffic tracking software to check out how many hits we've got in total for this month.

I was absolutely amazed to find that we've now gotten over 1 million hits on the site, in just this month alone, and nearing 1.5 million as we speak. Seems that traffic has really spiked up this month, for us to reach this huge milestone!

This is both the best, and the worst, Christmas present you guys could give me. I'm overjoyed that we've become so popular, but it's that same popularity that could cause the site to be shut down. As I mentioned yesterday, we're going to need VPS hosting after our two weeks on the temporary server are up, because the current server can't take all the load we've put on it.

If you want to keep Zyetendo alive, the best way is to click the advertisements on the site. This will help us pay for the enormous cost of VPS hosting ($40 per month).

Thank you all so much for helping us grow so big, and please continue to spread the word about us.

~ Webmaster Zyenet

DSiWare - software download process

We Ski - the newest million seller!

Hudson has just announced that their title from earlier this year "We Ski" has now sold over 1 million copies, becoming the newest third party game to hit the 1 million mark.

Kind of surprising that We Ski would sell so well, but it's fantastic news for Hudson.

7th Dragon - new details

- comes out in Japan on March 5th
- 5040 yen
- new job: Princess, skill = ninetail
- Princess & Knight have dual attack: Knight blade
- preorder special: a booklet

This week's Japanese Wii Shop Releases

WiiWare
- Simple Series Vol. 3: Mahjong
- LostWinds

VC
-Super Nobunaga no Yabou: Zengoku Han (Super Famicom)
- Salamander (Famicom)
- Fire Pro Wrestling 3: Legend Bout (PC-Engine)
- Super Wonder Boy: Monster World (Master System)

Japan: Dragon Quest IX now available for preorder at Bic Camera

If you're a Japanese gamer, you're almost certainly a Dragon Quest fan. If so, good news, because Bic Camera has now started allowing preorders for the game in Japan.

Kind of unusual considering their normal habit of waiting until it's just one or two months away from release, but good.

Gamestation Holiday Sale

Gamestation would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

To celebrate we have started our massive super sale early! Now you may think that after all the unbelievable deals we have offered throughout Xmas we might have run out of bargains, but we haven’t even started! Gamestation have a host of spectacular deals to see out Christmas and the New Year with a bang!

Head over to Gamestation now and visit our amazing sale featuring:
http://www.gamestation.co.uk/lowdown.aspx?lid=20126

Quantum of Solace on PS3 for just £24.98!
Mirrors Edge on Xbox 360 for only £19.98!
Lego Batman on Wii for £17.98!
Rambo on Blueray disk for just £9.98!

Plus hundreds more offers only in the Gamestation Holiday Sale!
http://www.gamestation.co.uk/lowdown.aspx?lid=20126

Gamestation – Gaming for Less

ROCK BAND® RINGS IN THE NEW YEAR WITH SONGS FROM SNOW PATROL, DEEP PURPLE, JAMES GANG AND JETHRO TULL

Cambridge, Mass. – December 23, 2008 - Harmonix and MTV Games announced today the addition of four new tracks to the Rock Band® Music Store catalog of downloadable content from bands Snow Patrol, Deep Purple, James Gang and Jethro Tull.

Scottish alternative band Snow Patrol makes its debut in the Rock Band music catalog offering their first single “Take Back the City” from their new album A Hundred Million Suns (2008).

In addition, the Rock Band music catalog will expand its collection of Deep Purple tracks, giving players access to the classic rock band’s single “Space Truckin’’” from the influential album Machine Head (1972). Deep Purple’s “Highway Star” was featured on the original Rock Band soundtrack.

Next week’s offering also includes the classic rock single “Funk #49” from the album James Gang Rides Again (1970) featuring Joe Walsh, Dale Peters and Jimmy Fox.

The Jethro Tull single“Hymn 43” will become the second Tull track in the Rock Band music catalog, joining “Aqualung” which was featured on the Rock Band 2 soundtrack. Both songs are from the band’s fourth studio album Aqualung (1971).

These tracks will be available starting December 30, 2008, for the Xbox_360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and January 8, 2008, for PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Each individual track will be available for $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points).

Release Date: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 (Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360)
Thursday, January 8, 2008 (PlayStation®Store)

Tracks:

Snow Patrol “Take Back the City”
Deep Purple “Space Truckin’”
James Gang “Funk #49”
Jethro Tull “Hymn 43”
(All tracks are original master recordings)

Price: $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track

Locations: Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360, PlayStation®Network

GAMETRAILERS.COM REVEALS NOMINEES FOR 2008 "GAME OF THE YEAR AWARDS"

Log On to GT Today, Monday, December 22nd Through Wednesday, December 31st As Five Nominees in 28 Categories are Unveiled

WHAT:
GameTrailers.com will honor the best games of 2008 with its esteemed “Game of the Year Awards.” Starting today, December 22, GT will begin rolling out 28 segments, featuring five nominees per category. Winners in each category will be announced daily, culminating with the crowning of GT’s 2008 Game of the Year on Wednesday, December 31.

Following a year of high profile releases like Grand Theft Auto IV, Metal Gear Solid 4, LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, and many more, the editorial staff at GT had a difficult task of choosing this year’s winners. The team’s selections resulted from countless hours debating the merits of every nominee, and each game was evaluated based on gameplay, design, artistry and innovation.

Tune in to GameTrailers for exciting gaming content featuring gameplay highlights and editorial commentary of the hottest games of 2008!


WHEN:
December 22nd through Wednesday, December 31st
*2008 Game of the Year announced New Years Eve!

WHERE:
http://www.GameTrailers.com

IMPORTANT: Information regarding Zyetendo.com

Hello Zyetendo readers,

First, let me explain the lack of updates over the past few days. After I returned from my vacation, I have been very busy, and haven't had much time to work. That's over now, and I'm going to go back to my regular schedule up till Christmas day, and then again starting December 27th.

Now, onto the important notice. I received an email from our host today (I asked them about the suspended notice that was here earlier today), and they informed me that this site has grown too popular to be run on our current hosting plan. I must either remove certain features of the site, or upgrade to VPS hosting.

I cannot afford the $40 monthly to have a Virtual Private Server (VPS), and I really cannot stand the idea of being forced strip the site down to bare bones (which won't hold out long anyway), so, I've got a big issue on my hands.

If I do not receive more income from the site's advertisements, Zyetendo.com will cease to exist after our two weeks on the temporary server is up.

Please, help support the site by clicking on the advertisements at the bottom of each page frequently. It is the only way to keep the site up and running.

I will keep you all updated on this throughout the next two weeks.

Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party - Rabbid Roast

UK's leading electronics companies take to the world stage

Humanoid robots, video game controls and wireless products are among the latest wares developed by UK companies showcasing at the largest international electronics show in Las Vegas next month.

Thanks to a UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) competition that looked at new innovation, nine companies have been selected to represent the UK at Consumer Electronics Show’s (CES) Unveiled, the official pre-event preview of new technology from around the world. CES runs from 8 10 11 January 2009.

Among the winners is Kablamm Ltd, which developed a user-friendly control system used in humanoid robots at half the price of equivalent systems from Korea and Japan.
Other winners include Sonneteer, Mirics Semiconductor, Imagination Technologies, Kablamm Ltd, ProVision Communications, The Technology Partnership, New Concept Gaming Limited, TheAlloy Ltd and GSM1 Communications Ltd.

With more than four decades of success, CES in Las Vegas is the largest international electronics show connecting the industry and enabling consumer electronics innovation to grow.

UKTI Chief Executive Andrew Cahn said:
"UK companies continue to develop unique, high-quality and internationally celebrated products and in these difficult times its important we help them stand out from the crowd to seek out new business opportunities.

“That’s why UKTI is supporting around 20 companies at CES and introducing a selection of these at CES Unveiled as examples of some of the latest innovation stemming from the UK.”

Imagination Technologies' David Harold said:
"We are delighted UKTI selected Imagination to be one of the many leading technology innovators showcasing unique technology at CES Unveiled. Our products are at the heart of many of today's leading consumer electronic products and it is great to be presenting our latest developments in conjunction with UKTI."

Mirics Semiconductor’s Chet Bable said:
“Mirics is extremely pleased to be one of the winner’s of UKTI’s CES ‘feature company’ competition. As a fast growing high-tech British company, we greatly value the networking opportunities and logistical support UKTI can provide at major international events such as CES.”

ProVision Communications’ David Smee said:
“We are at CES to launch our new wireless product for delivering HD video around the home, so we are delighted by this endorsement of our innovative technology. The Unveiled event will provide a perfect springboard for our launch.”

As part of CES, UKTI is hosting a Design & Innovation partnering event on 9 January for UK and international companies to explore how leading technology from the UK can support companies locally and globally. The partnering event will provide delegates with an opportunity to meet around 20 UK companies and view through an online ‘match-making’ facility.

For more information on UKTI’s presence at CES contact +44 207 215 4823 or to register for the partnering event, visit http://www.ukces2009.co.uk/international.

Guitar Hero: Metallica - trailers

1UP NETWORK ANNOUNCES 2008 GAME OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONS

-Voting Now Open on 1UP.com-

NEW YORK, December 23, 2008 – The 1UP Network, the recognized leader in print and online videogame content, today announced the nominations for the 4th annual 1UP Awards, honoring the year’s most popular games as judged by the millions of gamers who comprise the 1UP Network’s websites. Voting is open to the gaming public (http://votefor2008.1UP.com) now through 11:59 PST on January 6, 2009. Award winners will be announced online later in January.

"2008 was an incredibly rich and diverse year for interactive entertainment," states Sam Kennedy, editorial and site director of the 1UP Network. "In addition to strong additions to several key franchises and the continued growth of casual gaming among broader audiences, this year also saw investment in bold new IP, the popularization of user-generated content and the proliferation of downloadable games across all major platforms. It is truly no exaggeration to say that 2008 will go down as a banner year for games, which is why it is going to be particularly exciting to see what our community decides. Whatever the outcome, we know that the developers who worked so hard to create these titles will feel the love and admiration of their most devoted fans."

Since 2004, the 1UP Awards has given a voice to the true game critics – the gamers themselves – to use their own experiences and opinions to decide the best console, PC and hand-held games of the year. Gamers will be able to vote for their favorite titles, selected by the 1UP Network's esteemed group of editors, in more than 30 categories.

2008's stellar line-up of games has resulted in multiple nominations for several leading game publishers, including 41 for Sony Computer Entertainment America, 39 for Electronic Arts, 26 for Microsoft, and 23 for Nintendo.

Among the nominees for the 2008 1UP Awards:

Best Action Game
Bionic Commando: Rearmed
Devil May Cry 4
God of War: Chains of Olympus
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Mega Man 9
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Mirror's Edge
Ninja Gaiden II
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword

Best MMORPG
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria
Pirates of the Burning Sea
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King

Best Music Game
Audiosurf
Battle of the Bands
Guitar Hero: On Tour
Guitar Hero: World Tour
KORG DS-10 Synthesizer
Patapon
Rock Band 2
Samba de Amigo
SingStar
Wii Music

Best Racing Game
Baja: Edge of Control
Burnout: Paradise
Gran Turismo 5: Prologue
GRID
GTR Evolution
Mario Kart Wii
Midnight Club: Los Angeles
MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
Pure
Wipeout HD

Best Role-Playing Game
Chrono Trigger (DS)
Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard
Fable II
Fallout 3
Lost Odyssey
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Tales of Vesperia
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition
The World Ends With You

Best Sports Game
FIFA Soccer 09
Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
Madden NFL 09
NBA 2K9
NCAA Football 09
NHL 09
Sega Superstars Tennis
Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09
We Ski

Best Strategy Game
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Age of Booty
Civilization Revolution
Civilization IV: Colonization
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
EndWar
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Lock's Quest
Sins of a Solar Empire
Valkyria Chronicles

Best Multiplayer
Boom Blox
Burnout: Paradise
Gears of War 2
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Left 4 Dead
LittleBigPlanet
Resistance 2
Rock Band 2
SOCOM: Confrontation
Super Smash Bros. Brawl

The complete list of nominees is available at: www.1UP.com. For more information about the 1UP Network, please log on to: www.the1UPnetwork.com.

INDIE GAME MAG ISSUE 2 NOW AVAILABLE!

The 2nd issue of the Indie Game Magazine is now available online at www.indiegamemag.com. You can order digital or physical copies of the only magazine focused on the indie game community. The 2nd issue features over 20 pages of previews and reviews highlighting indie games such as Immortal Defense, Multiwinia, Project-Aftermath, and Townopolis.

Wilmington, DE – December 22, 2008 - Just in time for Christmas, Issue 2 of the Indie Game Magazine hits digital newsstands everywhere. The Indie Game Mag is the only magazine focused on the creative and unique indie game community. This issue features over 20 pages of previews and reviews highlighting indie games such as Immortal Defense, Multiwinia, Project-Aftermath, and Townopolis.
You can order subscriptions, single copies both digital and physical from the magazine’s website: www.indiegamemag.com

Support the little guy by reading reviews about the small independent games that the big game publishers don’t want you to know about. If you’re a game developer support IGM and others like you by submitting your very own game for review. You can also subscribe, write, advertise, link or submit news to the magazine. Help spread the word about the indie game community!

The latest issue costs $4.50 for a digital version or $7.50 + S&H for a physical copy of the magazine shipped right to your door. The latest issue and others are available at www.indiegamemag.com where you can also purchase the both digital and physical subscriptions ranging from $19.95 - $39.95.