Here at the GCC we love news about the DS and we sure as Hell hope that you guys do too, cause that's the bulk of this edition. Enjoy.

Kevin: : First up: Holy crap, it's got a price and shit...

Joe: : I'm pleasantly pleased with this perfect price.

Kevin: : Now...was it just me, or did you guys giggle a little bit when you saw that the DS is actually only 150?

Eric: : I definitely had a Holy Shit moment, as in I screamed Holy Shit at the top of my lungs.

Kevin: : Much like the moment you had when you found the USA today in LA with the DS pictured in it?

Eric: : About like that, yes.

Kevin: : For those of you fortunate enough not to be there, we thought that mouse had crawled up Eric's leg and was tickling his ball sack...that's how high pitched his scream was.

Joe: : That poor mouse.

Eric: : I'm not gonna deny it.

Joe: : I just can't wait to see the PSP price.

Eric: : The fact that it has Pictochat and the multiplayer Metroid demo is probably what excites me most of all.

Kevin: : How about that release date, too?

Joe: : Not a bad one, right near Christmas.

Eric: : Absolutely perfect. It puts it right in the line for the holidays. I see the Ds as being the 2004 Tickle Me Elmo.

Kevin: : Two weeks after Halo 2, the week before Thanksgiving.

Joe: : Maybe it can get a little ride off Metroid Prime 2 as well (given the demo included with it).

Eric: : I'm really hoping the full game (whenever that comes out) plays off the multiplayer mode as well, and becomes more of a Four Swords-esque co-op game.

Kevin: : The only thing I can figure is that they want the units in stores and people to know what it is before Black Friday. The one thing you don't want is a major shortage of stuff on the day after Thanksgiving

Eric: : It could even be one of the first games to make use of the DS microphone.

Joe: : If I recall, the advertising campaign they're going to do for the DS is one of the biggest and most expensive ever.

Eric: : And they also plan on shipping like 800 million $ worth of units. Or maybe it was 800 thousand.

Kevin: : They're shipping out 12K units to retail outlets as demo units, hopefully soon. Doesn't that seem a little small, though?

Eric: : Not really. They want to get the word out as much as possible. They're definitely relying more on the advertising campaign.

Kevin: : You can't just advertise something you need to touch.

Joe: : I guess we'll see if they know what they're doing though between now and November 21.

Eric: : I'm sure I'll get my hands on one by then, giving the nice new EB Games we just got at the mall.

Kevin: : They better get those demo units out soon, because the release is fast approaching and nobody outside the hardcore gaming circle knows what the Hell it is. It is nice to see, though, that we finally get something before Japan.

Eric: : I'd also recommend starting advertising as soon as possible - like, now. Get the word out.

Joe: : That was also pretty surprising, that we get it a couple weeks or so before Japan. Good to know they're sharing the love.

Kevin: : I don't know what to make of the battery life (Jones, keep the fanboyisms in the pants)

Eric: : I think it makes sense. Nintendo doesn't have the following here that they do in Japan among the casual community, it's more reserved for hardcore gamers.

Joe: : Seems to be longer than the PSP's at any rate.

Eric: : The battery life, while a smidge short, should still be fine to me. It isn't often I'm away from an outlet for 6-10 hours.

Joe: : Power two screens and it's only, what a couple or so hours shorter than the SP with light on? And only takes about an hour longer to charge. Not too bad.

Kevin: : I'm just worried, that's all. I know how short lived the battery is in my digital camera, and that's just one small screen.

Joe: : Of course, this is Nintendo too. People worried the Wave Bird would have crappy battery life and choppy signals to the Cube, and we see how that went.

Kevin: : I guess time will tell, though. Speaking of the DS - we've got a trivia coming up, don't we?

Joe: : That we do.

Eric: : Why yes! We're giving away a free DS! That wasn't a cheap plug at all, nope!

Kevin: : No, sir! None whatsoever! We've turned into Twisp and Catsby.

Joe: : Haha, nope! We would never do that! *moves Eric out of the way*

Kevin: : Shit, look at that - there's boxart and Spider-Man and all kinds of 3rd party peripherals. It's a DS filled fantasyland.

Joe: : A DS filled fantasyland giving all those lovely gamers a hard-on for their stylus.

Joe: : And once again I am sorry.

Kevin: : And, to put things lightly, we've killed the horse, beat it even more, sold it to the glue factory, bought the glue, glued broken glass to a board and beat Eric with it...wait, that isn't put lightly at all...moving on

Kevin: : Next: Lord of the Rings: You don't have to play with yourself anymore.

Kevin: : Eric, you spent some good time with Third Age at E3 - can and will it benefit from Multiplayer?

Eric: : My major thing with this is.....ok? I love RPG's, sure. But a multiplayer RPG just seems pointless to me, LOTR or not. Not really, honestly. Anyone who's played your average RPG knows that they're meant to play alone. Tales of Symphonia was a much better game with one player.

Kevin: : Joe, you play the RPGs - good idea or bad, bad move?

Joe: : I suppose it could go either way. I haven't checked much into this LotR RPG. Eric makes a good point. You're better off with one player, although there are instances you'd like to have slight control over another.

Eric: : RPG's are games with long lull points, periods of talking or cut scenes meant to forward the story and flesh out the characters. I don't think I'd enjoy having Carl sit next to me yelling "When they hell are we getting into a fight?"

Joe: : And another good point by Eric. You're on a roll tonight. Although I'd be more afraid of the fact that Carl would be sitting next to me, but still.

Kevin: : With or without pants, it's scary either way

Eric: : It didn't really impress me at E3 either, neither graphics-wise, concept-wise, or game-wise. It felt like Final Fantasy in the LOTR universe.

Joe: : I think we can all agree it will make EA money one way or another though.

Kevin: : I dunno, Dude....that Balrog was pretty sweet-ass.

Eric: : The characters weren't, I thought. The Dwarf looked like he had bullhorns.

Kevin: : That's classic EA for you.

Kevin: : Next: Nick joins staff, has yet to run away screaming.

Joe: : He must be of a deep sanity.

Kevin: : Or so far off the deep end he thinks he can scare us

Eric: : I just want to say "I'm sorry." That was to Nick, not to you guys.

Joe: : Heh, you people haven't seen scary until you've seen the inner depths of my mind. Maybe I'll get along well with him.

Kevin: : I've delved into your psyche before Joe and come back to tell the tale...it's like the Bermuda triangle.

Joe: : Excellent.

Eric: : In all seriousness, Nick is a hell of a nice guy, and has an immense love of games. He's going to be a great addition to the site and we're glad to have him.

Joe: : Should be fun to get to know Nick though, and we can always use another E3-goer.

Kevin: : We can always use another Guinea Pig, err, staffer to experiment, err, assign to topics.

Kevin: : Should be fun.

Joe: : Yes...assign..."topics".

Kevin: : While we assign Joe things that are topless.

Joe: : Awesome.

Eric: : It's funny because Joe thinks they're guys…err, girls.

Joe: : We know what Eric's thinking.

Kevin: : In all seriousness, welcome aboard, dude. It's gonna be wild.

Joe: : Welcome indeed.

Kevin: : And speaking of members of the staff...

Eric: : Anyway, one other topic to bring up. Our fearless Master, Kevin, turned the big 20 this week.

Kevin: : Yeah, 20 sucks.

Joe: : That's that weird age. But it's at least a year closer to 21.

Eric: : Yeah, it kinda does. One more you're like a Teendult.

Kevin: : No gambling, no titties slapping me around all night, no drinking....I didn't even get to enjoy my birthday. I went to work.

Joe: : All in due time, my friend, all in due time.

Eric: : I had a better birthday than Kevin. It's a miracle.

Kevin: : You turned 21, asshole.

Eric: : But I still didn't get drunk.

Joe: : We'll fix those problems Kev, but in the meantime, happy birthday you fun evil bastard, you.

Kevin: : You had the option to go get all crunked, though.

Eric: : This is for you dude.

Eric: : We love you, we hate you, we can't live without ya.

Kevin: : Thank you, sirs. And we bring it to an end.

Joe: : Cheers all.

Kevin: : Goodnight Sopchoppy, Florida!