Can't get enough of those Sony and Nintendo portables. While the 500,000 Nintendo DS units sold is a rather impressive feat, so is another Nintendo sales number: 800,000 GBAs sold in November. It's the gift that keeps on giving for Nintendo. Earlier today, Japan saw the release of the Nintendo DS and there's a neat little write-up over at IGN; let's just say it didn't produce the same fervor that DQ8 demanded. However, the event to watch is about ten days from now when Japanese gamers will have to battle it out to get their hands on one of 200,000 PSP's. I never thought about importing a PSP until just now, but I know it'd be next to impossible unless I'm willing to pay four times the retail price. I learned my lesson quite a while ago when I shelled out $600 for an import Dreamcast to play Space Channel 5 and Godzilla Generations. =(

	Baten Kaitos & Xenosaga for DS Two big-name RPGs are finding their way to the Nintendo DS. According to Game Informer, Namco updated their Japanese site with plans to port the critically-acclaimed RPGs Baten Kaitos and Xenosaga to Nintendo's newest handheld. No other details were revealed and we'll hopefully know more shortly.
	Namco Announces Mr. Driller 2 and Ace Combat Advance for GBA Namco made headlines again as they confirmed Mr. Driller 2 for a North American release as well as announced Ace Combat Advance, a portable version of its popular flight sim. Ace Combat Advance will be a vertical shooter, letting gamers pilot one of twelve planes to attack both land and air enemies. Mr. Driller 2 will sport new features over its Japanese counterpart and allows for two-player gaming over a link cable.
	500,000 DS Units Sold Nintendo is touting strong launch numbers for its Nintendo DS as the dual-screen device has sold over 90% of its stock, which is over 500,000 units. Nintendo appears on-track to hit its one million units sold by the end of the year as demand is quite high; some buyers on eBay are paying double the retail cost.
	Xbox Live Madden Tournament Electronic Arts and Microsoft jointly announced today the The Xbox Live Madden Championship, a huge online tournament that seeks to crown "The World’s Greatest Online Gridiron Gamer." The winner will be flown out to Jacksonville to battle the EA SPORTS Madden Bowl Champion, Dwight Freeney of the Indianapolis Colts. Place your entry here to get in the game.
	Halo 2 Playlist Changes Bungie announced today that new changes to Halo 2's playlists are now available for download. There are quite a few changes, but most notable are two new playlists: Team Slayer and an unranked training mode for Rumble Pit. Other playlists have been tweaked along with general online settings. See the whole list here.
	Atlus to Release Super Army War As if there weren't enough news about Nintendo's portables, here's another. Atlus is set release Super Army War for the GBA in February, 2005. In Super Army War, players take control of either a helicopter or fighter plane to knock down enemy vehicles in old-school gameplay fashion. "It's like an ICBM waiting to explode in your pants!" said Akibo Shieh, Project Commander at Atlus U.S.A. It'll sell for $19.99 when released.
	No FF7: Advent Children This Year As if we couldn't figure this out ourselves, Square Enix decided to make it clear that their computer animated follow-up to Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children, will not be released this year. The new release date is just plain 'ol 2005. It would make the most sense to have it ready by spring/summer for the North American release of the PSP.
	Misc. Q&As/Features 1up talks with actress Michelle Rodriguez about her voice work in Halo 2. IGN discusses the future of Team Ninja with rising-legend Tomonobu Itagaki and also speaks with the original snake eater, Hideo Kojima.
	Misc. Media/Previews
	Game Informer pumps out more images for Shadow of Rome.
	Two new articles about Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords are at IGN. More images of GunGriffon: Allied Assault at GameSpot. A new trailer for MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf is at Game Informer.
	Nice, hot board game down-n-dirty action at GameSpy with these shots of Mario Party 6.
	GamesAreFun shares screens of Super Army War (GBA). GameSpot takes a "clandestine look" at Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (NG). Images of the Dynasty Warriors (PSP) adaptation are at GameSpy. First images of Ace Combat Advance (GBA) and a preview of Ridge Racer DS are at IGN.
	IGN spins out new media for Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (PS2, Xbox, GCN) and has the first details on Batman Begins (PS2, Xbox, GCN). Game Informer spends quality time with Darkwatch (PS2, Xbox). GameSpot previews Virtua Quest (PS2, GCN).