If you're an avid user of the XLink Kai service, take heed. The team behind XLink Kai has just released version 7.4.15 which, apart from the usual bugfixes found in any update, ups the app's usability for Japanese users. Hit the full article for more info.

Download: kaiEngine-7.4.15-osx-universal.pkg.zip
Download: kaiEngine-7.4.15-linux-x86.tgz
Download: XLinkKai-7.4.15-win32.msi

Epic Games CEO and founder Tim Sweeney expressed his opinion on the flagging state of the PC gaming industry. In an interview conducted by TG Daily, he pointed out the different problems the PC marke t is facing as well as some possible solutions the industry can take if it wants to make some headway against its rivals. You can check out the rest of the interview by reading our full article, accessible through the "read more" link below.

Here's another program for those who are keen on converting videos and uploading them on their preferred gadgets: Called Universal Video Converter. This application is currently on version 6.0.2, and was created by Victorious from DivxTurka.Net

Know more about this program via the "read more" link below.

Download: Universal Video Converter v6.0.2

To conclude the monumental public video game trade show, E for All Expo 2007, the sponsors of the event personally went out and thanked the 18,000 attendees who went to the L.A. Convention Center and checked out the many vendors who showed off their games. The event ran from October 17 to October 21 and featured many games that everyone was looking forward to before their official release dates.

The South Hall was where over 70 of the biggest names in the video game industry featured their latest and upcoming games to the people who mattered the most to them - the gamers themselves. Names like Nintendo, THQ, Electronic Arts, Intel, Namco Bandai, Konami and many more gave gamers a chance to play games that they can't even find in game stores yet (curse you, lucky people!).

Highly anticipated games such as Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii and Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots were received with a lot of excitement as gamers were given a chance to test out the playable builds for them during the event.

However, this won't be the last time gamers will be able to see a collection of gaming companies this big; the event is already planned again for 2008, specifically in late August. The organizers wished everyone the best and hoped to see them again next year.

In Singapore, new generation moms prefer computer-related gifts over anything else. G3 Interractive's Lynn Oh has gone as far as to say that women really go for PSP and DS Lite games. She cited Cooking Mama and Cake Mania as two games that are easy for women to get really into.

A good example of a mom who really got into this is 60-year-old Ruth Tang. She has two children who are already working, so now she spends her time playing online computer games. She stated that "I enjoy it! In fact, I play every day for one to two hours. Sometimes when I want to play more, my daughters will say, 'No mummy, not good for you'."

She was drawn to the new hobby because of curiosity. She spied her youngest daughter playing the whole night, and decided to watch her play. Now Mrs. Tang plays video games and claims that it exercises her mind as well as her hands. (Hmm, dont'w we all use the same excuse) Her daughter speaking on her mom's new hobby:

She used to be afraid of technology. That's why I was very, very surprised when she started playing. Before that, she couldn't even hold a mouse properly. I tried to enrol her into community centre courses and everything but she just didn't like it. Nonetheless, she managed to find her own groove, which is good.

So what's in the future for Mrs. Tang? She wants a laptop. We would like to suggest getting an Intel Core 2 Duo laptop for her needs because the it is currently the preferred processor by women according to MC2's Leslie Lim.

Over on our PSP Development forums, Xart has just announced that the Xgraphics part of XSDK is now ready and available. You can get your copy by clicking on the download link below.

According to Xart, XSDK is "a set of C++ Classes for compiling and testing code on a Mac PowerPC/Intel using Xcode" and was developed for the development of easyChoice. This app is in universal binary form so it can also be run on PowerPC and Intel-based Macs. When compiled for Mac, Xgraphics uses SDL to handle the graphics. When compiled for PSP, PSP display functions are used to handle graphics.

Xart also revealed that an improved version that'll include Data Array Scrambling is also in the works. That version is also slated to be released soon so keep an eye out for it. If you have any questions or suggestions, click on the "Visit" link below to discuss this release in QJ's PSP Development forums.

Download: XSDK Cross-Software Development Kit (Xgraphics part)
Visit: QJ's PSP Development forums

Well, there's the Super Bowl for football fans, the NBA All-Star Weekend for basketball junkies, and the World Series for baseball fanatics. These are major television events, getting airtime, oodles of advertisements, and raking in network ratings. Now here's something for gamers. CBS aired Video Game Super Stars, presented by Intel, featuring five of the best pro gamers around.

The special focuses on the likes of Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel (a.k.a. "the Michael Jordan of gaming"), Rafik "LoSt-CaUzE" Bryant, David "Moto" Geffon who defied his family and denounced the profession of law to be a pro gamer, the minister's daughter Shannon "Mary Jane" Ridge, and Matt "Ballistics" Powers who is a seasoned Sergeant at maximum security prison.

You can watch the World Series of Video Games Finals, also presented by Intel  on College Sports Television starting January 21.

This week we advise music lovers and gamers alike to get ready as MTV recently announced Gamer's Week 2.0. Ranging across MTV, games.MTV.com, MTV2, mtvU, Xfire, and GameTrailers, this event is set to showcase the latest, the coolest, the hottest, and in some cases, the lamest that gaming culture has to offer.

"We are excited to showcase the revolutionary hardware and games that will shape the future of gaming during Gamer’s Week 2.0 and present the content through exciting and creative short and long form programming across all of our platforms," said Brian Graden, MTV's President of Entertainment, Networks Music Group and President of Logo.

"Video games are front and center in the minds of the MTV viewers, especially with the launches of PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, the continued success of Xbox 360, and the onslaught of amazing new titles this upcoming holiday season, and we intend to bring it all directly to our audience."

As part of this major gaming event, MTV's GAMES.MTV.COM gaming will be the focal point for Gamer's Week 2.0, and anybody visiting the site can expect the following topics to look through:

• Video: All video topics related to Gamer's Week 2.0 can be found here as they air within the week. Videos are supported by the likes of MTV, MTV News, MTV2, mtvU, Xfire and GameTrailers.
• Tune In: A guide for all the game-related programs to be featured on Gamers Week 2.0.
• Online Specials: MTV online special features can be found here, such as "PS3: Dissected," and "Wii: Dissected", gamer's gift guides. It'll also be featuring special episodes of GAME.MTV.COM regular shows "Peep Show," "The Dime," "Obsessed" and "Game Character Playlist" for the Gamers Week 2.0 event.
• Games: Videos and information on the upcoming Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3 games to be coming out this December up to 2007.
• News: This link leads to all the MTV Games top news stories, both text and video format.
  

The full program listing for Gamer's Week 2.0 is right after the jump!

Filipo Battaglia is making significant progress with his Nanodesktop library for Windows, Linux and the PSP, putting up 7 demos of what Nanodesktop is capable of. Using Nanodesktop, the same code you use in writing homebrew using a PSP emulator, like PSPE, can be used in a real PSP. Since it's leaning towards real-time graphics, I think we can expect even more great-looking homebrew games from now on.

Obviously, Nanodesktop hasn't been released yet, but these demos can be played using PSPE (PSP homebrew Emulator for Windows). The download link for PSPE can be found below. Nanodesktop uses OpenCV, the Computer Vision Library of Intel, and 'ndOpenCV' is a modified version of original code that can work with Nanodesktop system. I can't wait for this to be released!

Download: [Nanodesktop demos]
Download: [PSPE v0.9b - PSP homebrew Emulator for Windows]