Nintendo plans to launch a new version of its popular DS portable gaming device with a camera and music player function, according to a report in the Sunday edition of The Nikkei Business Daily. The new version will have better wireless capability for connecting to the Internet and will cost under ¥20,000 (US$189).

Microsoft Corp announced its plan to cut the price of entry level Xbox360, the version without a hard drive to only $199 from its original current price of $279. While the best selling Xbox360 version that comes with 60gig hard drive will reduce its price from $349 to $299. The new prices will go into effect by September 5. 

Mortal Kombat and DC universe followers will surely be surprised  of the news on the PS3 and XBOX 360 game scene lately. Midway Games Inc. will be releasing Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe game for PS3 and Xbox 360. Just imagine Batman against scorpion or superman vs subzero in a arena like Gotham City and Metropolis for the DC side and Hell and Graveyard for MOrtal Kombat side. Players can also expect all new fighting features like freefall kombat and Klose Kombat. Freefall Kombat allows players to battle in mid-air while falling from one arena to the next one. Klose Kombat gives the player a brutal up-close view of the fight. Of course specific finishing signature moves can still be experience on the game. Release date has not yet been mentioned.

Summer blockbuster movies no longer end with the closing credits with rising numbers of licensed video games being spun off from Hollywood adventures, putting the gamer in the starring role. John Taylor, video game analyst for Arcadia Research, said this summer features a dozen Hollywood-licensed games, up from nine last year. Disney/Pixar’s newest computer-generated blockbuster, “WALL-E,” has been developed into a game by Heavy Iron Studios and published by THQ with players able to control the robot stars, WALL-E and Eve, in adventures beyond the two-hour film. In addition to his new movie, “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” from Universal Pictures, del Toro collaborated with “Hellboy” comic creator Mike Mignola and Konami Digital Entertainment on the new “Hellboy: Science of Evil” game for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PSP.

In the US, seven of the top selling titles in May were for the Nintendo Wii console or its handheld DS game-playing gadget. Nintendo maintained its top spot as the most popular console and managed to sell 675,000 Wiis. By comparison Sony sold 209,000 PlayStation 3 machines and Microsoft 187,000 Xbox 360 consoles. Total spending on video games for May was $1.12bn. Total sales for the year so far are $6.6bn. The figures were boosted by continuing strong sales of Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV) which was the best-selling title for a second month. The highly praised game kept the top spot despite competition from other new releases such as Mario Kart and Wii Fit for Nintendo’s popular console. Top-selling title GTA IV sold 1.31 million units in May taking its total since its launch in late April to 4.2 million units However, NPD said the strong sales of GTA IV was not boosting console sales. The figures mean that total US sales of the Nintendo Wii number 10.2 million - on a par with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 which has sold 10.27 million. NPD projects that game sales could reach $23bn for 2008 - far higher than the $18bn reached in 2007, which was a 43% jump over 2006.

If you’re a Guitar Hero fan, you are definitely meant for the upcoming Guitar Hero: On Tour package, which consists of a special-edition Guitar Hero Nintendo DS, the GH game, and the Guitar Grip. For those who have never heard of Guitar Hero: On Tour, Activision has created a portable version of game that’s compatible with the popular Nintendo DS. The Guitar Grip, which plugs into the DS’s Game Boy Advance slot, has color-coded fret buttons you push, and a pick stylus to strum the virtual guitar on the DS’s touch screen. The other screen of the DS will display moving notes for each song, just as in the real game that will make you feel you are really singing on a live performance.