Happy New Year from The Comic Book Bin!

A big hello and happy new year to all of our Jewish readers out there. We hope you enjoy your apples and honey, bread and honey, and whatever else you can think of dipping in honey. For those readers that were unaware, tomorrow and Sunday are the Jewish new year and day of judgement. The next Monday, Oct. 2^nd, is Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. So enjoy your new year's meals and also, have a good fast.

20GB Playstation 3 to have HDMI V1.3, in Japan

Yes, you read correctly. The 20GB version of the Playstation 3 will come with HDMI, standard. Sony has given into the demand from consumers and protesters alike, changing the PS3's specs from the original E3 announcement, adding in the HDMI compatibility with HDMI “Ver 1.3/supporting Deep Color”. Japanese consumers will also be happy to know that the price of the 20GB PS3 has also been significantly dropped from the original price of 62,790 yen. The new official price of the Japanese PS3 will be 49,980 yen (tax included). Can you say 12,810 yen discount?

Rather unfortunately, all of this news is Japan specific, which means that the announcement is not official for North America yet. While it's probable that the HDMI upgrade will be announced for North America, we can't be sure if the price drop will accompany it. To put things in perspective, the new price of the Japanese PS3 when converted to American Dollars is $427.22, so if that's any indication, we are assuming a price drop for North America too.

Disney's Little Einsteins for GBA in Stores

Buena Vista Games, The Walt Disney Company's interactive entertainment branch, has begun shipping Disney's Little Einsteins for the Game Boy Advance. The game is based on the Disney television show and, straight from the words of Disney, is “a game that lets kids and parents embark on new adventures with their favorite characters from the show.” The game is meant to introduce children to classical music, art and nature by taking them on musical missions. There are six different playable modes in the game, including matching pieces of music, dancing over flower buds and steering Rocket to avoid obstacles. The game also has seven multi-level missions and twenty-one games with classic pieces of art and music. Disney's Little Einsteins is available in stores, today, for $19.99 USD and is rated E for Everyone. Canadian pricing is not yet available.

Activision shoots for retail stores

Activision's Cabela's Alaskan Adventures is now available for purchase in stores across North America. The new hunting and fishing game, for Xbox 360 and Playstation 2, is meant to immerse players in Alaska's outback and allows them to track trophy game, fish, hunt birds, ride a dog sled and compete in various outdoor-themed contests. There are thirty-eight hunting and and fishing adventures to be played, across twelve different Alaskan regions, from the North Slope to Ketchikan. There are also thousands of gear options to choose from, including rifles, shotguns, bows and arrows, fishing tackle and cloths, plus a number of vehicles to use for getting around the terrain. Cabela's Alaskan Adventures is available in stores for $39.99 USD/$49.99 CAD for the Xbox 360 version and $29.99 USD/$39.99 CAD for the Playstation 2 version. The game is rated T for Teen.

Dolby Digital 5.1 and 7.1 to Playstation 3

Dolby Labs announced today that the PS3 will have full Dolby Digital Support. Today's press release confirmed that not only will the PS3 have full Dolby Digital 5.1 support for games and movies, but it will also support Dolby TrueHD decoding for up to 7.1 channels for Blu-ray movies. I bet that sounds sweet for gamers with 7.1 systems, pun intended.

That's all for News Pop! this week. You can check out this week's News Pop! articles by clicking the links below.

09/18/06     09/19/06     09/20/06     09/21/06