When I first heard about Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles on the DS I think I said what most gamers did ... "Huh?"

How do you take a game that existed at the level of Assassin's Creed and turn it into a handheld game? On the DS no less!

Over time we've seen a few pictures as well as some box-art but now it's time to check out some gameplay footage. When I first saw this I instantly thought about how underwhelming it was - then I remembered it was a DS game. Truth be told I'm a bit impressed thinking about this on the two DS screens - the question remains though ... is it any good?

I've yet to see a review but I'll be sure to share one if it turns up. Take a peak at the video yourself and let me know what you think.

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A little over a week ago I bought (well, thought I bought) Pheonix Wright. The box I got at my local GameStop was for a used copy of the game and had the boxart for the original Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney just today I realized that the game inside the box (and in fact the yellow used game sticker) are actually Pheonix Wright Ace Attorney - Justice for All - ouch.

You may think this isn't much of a deal but trying to track down a cheap copy of the original Pheonix Wright game proved to be somewhat difficult. I'm the kind of person who likes to follow a story from beginning to end - I hate missing the first episode!

Tomorrow I'm hoping to head over to the local GameStop and try talking them into swapping the disk - or at least the box and then letting me buy the right cart. I am planning on playing through the series because it's quite enjoyable so buying something else isn't exactly a bummer to me.

There is a lesson here though - I've always checked to make sure that the disc isn't scratched or otherwise damaged but it prove a good idea to make sure you get the right game while at it.

Spore is one of those games that I'm just dying to play - unfortunately it's also one of those games that seems to just keep moving further and further away. Today we get some good news though.

Despite further delaying Mercenaries 2, EA was kind enough to give us a slight hint at when we might see Spore hit the market. While it's not set in stone it looks as though Spore will be hitting the market sometime before the 2008 holiday season.

Of course with this good news comes three helpings of iffy. As of right now Bioware's upcoming Dragon Age RPG, Pandemic's Mercenaries 2, and Battlefiel: Bad Company have all been pushed into EA's next fiscal year. The good news is that EA's next fiscal year runs from April 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009 - that's a good possibility for 2008 but leaves plenty of time for a 2009 release.

It's safe to assume that a Guitar Hero game will be finding it's way onto the DS sooner or later - the potential fun factor is just too high!

While no official announcement about the game has surfaced GoNintendo has spotted a listing on a French website that hints at a release date sometime this year.  With no listing on Amazon, GameStop or more importantly Activision, it still leaves things up in the air - I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

On things for certain - without the guitar peripheral it's going to be curious how this is going to play. Kotaku showed off a pretty cool mockup sometime back but functionally it was a bit tough - how do you see the screen, hold the guitar, strum and hit the frets all at the same time?

Gonna have to wait and see...

1. The How-To-Geek offers up a great tip for getting Windows Vista to automatically disable Aero before starting application. It also automagically turns it back on when you close the app. This is absolutely great for anyone looking to squeeze a little more performance out of their system during games like Crysis or (the PC game I'm currently working on) Hellgate London.
2. The folks at 1Up have compiled a list of the top 101 free games of 2008. There are tons of familiar titles and tons of new ones so be sure to check it out.
3. Could Kid Icarus be making his triumphant return at the hands of Factor 5? It's been a long time since i played th original Kid Icarus - I can't remember most of the game to be honest. The thing about Nintend, though, is that they love using nostalgia to sell games. After all the hype that floated around a potential Kid Icarus game during the launch of the Wii it only makes sense they'd give it a try. But Factor 5? After Lair I'm not quite sure what to expect. For more on this rumor check out the post over at Joystiq.
4. Ever seen an M16 Light Gun for the original NES? Neither had we until GoNintendo found one on eBay. Check out their post about it.
5. Lastly we have a list of the top 12 covers of the Still Alive. My personal favorite is below - if you've bought The Orange Box Soundtrack then you've got a copy of Jonathan Coulton singing the song but this other won is a pretty solid one too.