M U L T I

- Here are the latest Famitsu console software sales for the week of Jan 18 - 24 in Japan. Sega's Valkyria Chronicles 2 sold 101,200 copies in the first week, up from the last game's 77,000 first week sales:

1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii, Nintendo) - 115,700 [3,118,400]
2. Senjo no Varukyuria 2: Gallia Ourisshikan Gakko [Valkyria Chronicles 2] (PSP, Sega) - 101,200
3. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's Portable: The Battle of Aces (PSP, Namco Bandai) - 76,500
4. Tamodatchi Collection (NDS, Nintendo) - 56,500 [2,712,400]
5. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP, Square Enix) - 54,300 [644,900]
6. Wii Fit Plus (Wii, Nintendo) - 33,700 [1,553,800]
7. Biohazard: Darkside Chronicles (Wii, Capcom) - 18,700 [97,600]
8. Wii Sports Resort (Wii, Nintendo) - 16,900 [1,719,800]
9. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G [PSP the Best] (PSP, Capcom) - 14,800 [1,151,500]
10. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (NDS, Pokemon Co.) - 14,300 [3,546,700]
11. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 Empires [Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires] (PSP, Koei) - 13,700
12. Zelda no Densetsu: Taiyou no Kiteki (NDS, Nintendo) - 12,800 [536,200]
13. Inazuma Eleven 2: Kyoui no Shinryakusha - Fire/Blizzard (NDS, Level 5) - 10,900 [1,048,900]
14. Tekken 6 (PSP, Namco Bandai) - 10,400 [39,700]
15. Mario Kart Wii (Wii, Nintendo) - 9,900 [2,547,500]
16. Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP, Sega) - 9,300 [541,700]
17. New Super Maro Bros. (NDS, Nintendo) - 9,000 [5,711,000]
18. Last Window: Mayonaka no Yakusoku (NDS, Nintendo) - 8,600 [31,600]
19. Monotaro Dentetsu 2010: Sengoku Ishin no Hero Daishuugou! no Maki (Wii, Hudson) - 7,927 [216,500]
20. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, Square Enix) - 7,500 [1,861,700]

- Apple announced the iPad 3G Model will use a new Micro SIM card, which is 52% smaller than standard SIM card and provide more on-chip storage space and security functions, and it also provides hardware carrier locking instead of software lock in iPhone.

- Apple announced 75 million units of iPhone and iPod Touch were shipped worldwide.

- Apple announced iBooks, an e-reader app for iPad, which can read e-books in ePub format, Apple will launch the iBookstore for users to purchase ebooks. The price will be between $12.99 - $14.99. Five major publishers were revealed: HarperCollins Publishers, Hachette Book Group, Penguin, Macmillion and Simon & Shuster.

- Apple has officially announced the iPad at the Apple Conference today, the iPad will have a 9.7" display, 1.5 pounds weight and 0.5" thickness, and storage capacity of 16, 32 or 64GB. The iPad can run all iPhone apps in regular resolution or full screen.

• Processor: 1GHz Apple A4 chip
• Screen: 9.7" LED backlit glossy multi-touch display with IPS technology, 1024x768 pixels, 132 pixels/inch
• Size: 9.56" height, 7.47" width, 0.5" depth
• Weight: 1.5 pounds (WiFi model), 1.6 pounds (3G model)
• Capacity: 16GB, 32GB or 64GB flash drive
• Battery: 25Whr lithium-ploymer battery, operate up to 10 hours, one month stand by
• Sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor
• Other features: Speaker, Microphone, 30-pin connector, on-screen keyboard
• Software: iTunes, Digital Compass, Safari, App Store
• Network: WiFi 802.11n, 3G, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

- Apple announced the iPad will ship in WiFi only models and WiFi + 3G models. The price of the 16GB WiFi model is $499, shipping in 60 days. The 16GB 3G model is $629, shipping in 90 days. You can get a 3G data plan from US carriers, starting $14.99 for 250MB data, or $29.99 unlimited.

• 16GB (WiFi) - $499, (WiFi + 3G) - $629
• 32GB (WiFi) - $599, (WiFi + 3G) - $729
• 64GB (WiFi) - $799, (WiFi + 3G) - $829

- Apple announced an optional Keyboard Dock for iPad, for those who like physical keyboard. In additonal, Apple will also roll out the optional camera connection kit for user to hook up digital camera and SD cards to the device. There will be an optional Apple Case as well, which is both a stand and screen protector.

- Apple has released a new iPhone & iPad OS SDK, which allows developers to rebuild or tweak their apps to run on iPad.

- A handful of iPad games have been announced, including Gameloft's FPS Nova and EA's Need for Speed Shift HD version.

- New York Times announced they will release an electronic edition of The New York Times newspaper for iPad, with embedded video inside articles that can be played.

- Here are the latest Famitsu game review scores:

• God Eater (PSP, Namco Bandai): 9, 9, 8, 8 - (34/40)
• Pop 'n Music Portable (PSP, Konami): 7, 8, 8, 8 - (31/40)
• Moe Moe 2-Ji Daisenryaku 2 (PSP, System Stoft): 6, 6, 6, 6 - (24/40)
• Misshitsu no Sacrifice (PSP, D3): 5, 6, 5, 5 - (21/40)
• Kunio-Kun no Chou Nekketsu! Daiundoukai (NDS, Arc System Works): 5, 6, 6, 6 - (23/40)
• Moe Moe 2-Ji Daisenryaku 2 (PS2, System Soft): 6, 6, 6, 5 - (23/40)

- EA announced 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa for PS3, 360, Wii and PSP, the official game for the World Cup, which includes 199 national teams and 10 official stadiums/arenas from each region. The game will be released in April 2010.

P L A Y S T A T I O N   3

- UNCONFIRMED: Simplegames.com reported that Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City for PS3 will be released on March 31. The PS3 version will include additional goodies like exclusive radio stations not found in the two DLCs.

- Sega will release an update patch for the PS3 version of Bayonetta on January 28, which includes some fixes and an option to install the game to hard drive, for shortening the load times.

- iPhone hacker George Hotz "Geohot" has released the exploit code to hack the PS3 hardware. The exploit will give user full memory access and complete control over the processor, on PS3 running Firmware 2.4.2. He said the exploit should also work on all current versions.