Late Night Consoling

According to various internet reports leading to Chinese news outlet Sina, a large shipment of Europe-bound Nintendo DS Lite hardware and software has gone missing and is presumed to be currently located somewhere in China. Notably, the shipment contains black DS Lite units, which have so far only been announced as exclusive to Europe. In total, the shipment is valued at US$2.3M (HK$18M). Hong Kong police are offering a reward of HK$1M (~US$130,000) for information leading to an arrest. It is unknown how many black DS Lite units were contained in the shipment, since various products of differing values were included. Since the theft occurred, photographs have surfaced on the internet depicting individuals holding black DS Lite units.

Nacho Libre, a wrestling-centric comedy starring Jack Black and directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), hits theatres in the U.S. tomorrow. Coinciding with that release, Majesco has announced a DS wrestling game based on the film, which Majesco's Ken Gold notes is the "first Nintendo DS wriestling game for the US and European markets." The game features "exaggerated moves, wacky props and lots of pratfalls, all delivered in a unique ‘photo puppetry' visual style." Over 10 luchadors, including the titular Nacho, are playable, and the game also features four-player wireless versus matches as well as additional mini-games. Developing the title is Budcat Creations, which most recently handled the PlayStation 2 port of Double Fine Productions' Psychonauts (PS2, Xbox, PC).

Nacho Libre ships for Nintendo DS this October.

Yesterday, Double Fine Productions founder Tim Schafer caused a bit of a stir among the gaming press with his humorous and insistent request for Microsoft to add Double Fine's Psychonauts (PS2, Xbox, PC) to the list of Xbox 360-compatible Xbox games. Now, one of the Microsoft-employed "emulation ninjas" working on the 360's backwards compatibility code has posted an encouraging message on the IGN Insider forums. "Rest assured, we are working on Psychonauts," he wrote. While the backwards compatibility team is not exactly known for its promptness, it appears that the game will indeed make it to 360 at some point.

During this year's E3, developer Kojima Productions distributed a rather unique brochure containing announcements, interviews, and previews regarding the studio's upcoming lineup. Dubbed the ShowMaybe?, the hefty brochure was essentially a Kojima-tinted clone of the expo's official ShowDaily handout. Now, the whole thing has been made available online for gamers unable to peruse it at E3 itself.

Currently, Kojima Productions has a full plate, developing Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3), Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops (PSP), Lunar Knights (NDS), and an unnamed Wii project.

Along with the announcement that From Software's Xbox 360 mech title Chromehounds has gone gold, Sega has announced an official release date for the game. Chromehounds will be shipping to retailers July 11, 2006. Sega was sure to note that this will be "the first squad based mech combat game exclusively for the Microsoft Xbox 360." - New screenshots - Gallery.

Midway Chicago's upcoming title John Woo Presents Stranglehold, a semi-sequel to the action director's film Hard Boiled, is now apparently a PS3 launch title, according to IGN. The game has been announced for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, though it is unclear if the 360 and PC versions of the game will also ship on PS3's November 17 launch date. - Screenshots.

Empire Interactive today announced the musical lineup featured on the soundtrack for Bugbear Entertainment's upcoming racer FlatOut 2. Acts whose music appears in the game include Alkaline Trio, Papa Roach, Nickelback, Fall Out Boy, Audioslave, Rob Zombie, Motley Crue, Wolfmother, Yellowcard, Supergrass, Underoath, Megadeth, Zebrahead, and The Chelsea Smiles.

Bugbear Entertainment's FlatOut 2 ships for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC next month. - Screenshots.

Game Informer chats with Q Entertainment designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi about his upcoming titles including Ninety-Nine Nights (X360) and the various new additions to the Lumines franchise.