Europe might be able to get their hands on one sooner but North American markets won't have to wait too much longer as Nintendo has announced a release date of March 28th. At US $189.99, the DSi XL will be sold preloaded with several titles, including Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Math, and Photo Clock and much like the European release next week it will be available in either burgundy or bronze.

Originally thought to be slated for a 4th quarter release, Nintendo announced today at their Media Summit that the "first 3D Super Mario sequel for a single Nintendo console" will hit store shelves in three months time on May 23rd.

The release date isn't all that's new folks! Nintendo has also provided an all new trailer which you can view after the break.

As far as promotions go you can't beat a freebie, and that's just what you've got in store for you today! If you reside in the USA or Canada and have yet to get yourself the full version of thatgamecompany's serene game flOw for your PS3 now is your chance.

You have to download (and keep) the title before 9:00 p.m PST on February 13th in order to take advantage of this sweet deal so act now.

Thanks go out to our friends at eXophase for the tip.

flOw Goes Free On PSN, Today Only [eXophase]

The DLC exclusivity deal signed between Rockstar Games and Microsoft was indeed a timed commitment and is coming to an end as the studio revealed that Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, the single disc collection of both GTA IV episodes: The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, is scheduled to hit the PS3 and PC on March 30.

As an owner of the PS3 version myself, I would have liked to been able to get in on the action at the same time as my 360 owning friends; however, I may still dust off my copy to see how these episodes add to the experience.

"It’s been a long time coming, but we are proud to finally deliver Episodes From Liberty City for the PC and PlayStation 3," said Sam Houser. "We appreciate the patience of our PlayStation 3 and PC fans worldwide, and we look forward to putting the games in your hands this March."

The episodes will also be made available through the PlayStation Store and Games for Windows Live services for those who prefer digital purchasing.

Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos, the latest Playstation Network exclusive by Tik Games and Creat Studios, is set to land on the North American store later this week.

The game brings the hidden object genre to the Playstation 3; taking players around the world as they investigate elaborate crime scenes while working as an elite Interpol agent. Many puzzles and mini-games await gamers while playing game modes which include a single player storyline-based mode (local) and a cooperative storyline-based mode (local or online).

Additional details can be found in the press release after the break.

According to a recent press release from Creat Studios and TikGames, The Booster pack for Magic Ball included with this past Thursday's Playstation Store update marks the first of several add-ons to be made available for their current Playstation Network games, Magic Ball, Cuboid and Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom in the coming weeks.

Cuboid and Mahjong Tales will also be getting the Booster pack treatment, upping their trophy and level count; by 33 and 25 levels respectively. Additionally, both Mahjong Tales and Cuboid will soon feature level editors to allow players to create, modify, and share custom made challenges.

It's not all premium add-ons though, Custom music support will also be made available for all three games via a free patch download.

"We are thrilled with the response that our first three PlayStation Network titles have received from both the PlayStation community and the media, and we are excited about releasing these Booster Packs to add to the great gaming experiences that so many PSN players are already enjoying," said Vladimir Starzhevsky, CEO of Creat Studios, Inc. "We have listened to our gamers who have repeatedly asked for more levels, level editors and new trophies, and we’re thrilled to be able to deliver on so many of their requests."

For more information about Magic Ball, Cuboid, and Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom visit Creat Studios.

Here's a great progress report on the newly discovered savegame exploit that we're sure will thrill all you PSP 3000 owners out there.

MaTiAz has updated his thread on LAN.ST with the release of a "Hello World" example program which runs using the GripShift savegame exploit. Our friend FreePlay also provides a basic developer kit so we might see some homebrew soon enough! Stay tuned for future news; In the mean time we have the download links and more details below.

Download Hello World [MaTiAz]
Download Sparta SDK [FreePlay]
Via lan.st

Discussion thread

Art is starting 2009 with more updates to his "homage to the Amiga family of computers"; the MegaBall inspired Powernoid for PSP is now at version 4c. There's been quite a few changes since we last covered Art's Breakout clone but the most notable in my opinion would be the in game music, the moving bricks/barriers, and the increased pause durations.

I love killing time playing this in large part for it's somewhat unique aspect; unlike most breakout clones, this one features powerups that remain active and can be accumulated as the player progresses through stages until a life is lost.

Read the full changelog since our last coverage after the break.

Discuss and download

Let's face it, not all plugins are created equal. Some plugins seem cool when you first install it but then you realize it doesn't live up to what it promises to deliver and/or it simply isn't updated beyond the initial release. Then there are plugins that don't seem cool at all but you try it out anyway to find out it's a godsend; that's how I would describe Torch's Hold+ power saving plugin. Now updated to version 3.42, this bugfix release carries the following changelog:

Changelog v3.42
----------------------------------
Fixed a bug in the faulty Hold switch detection method. It should now be very resistant to problems such as CPU remaining underclocked due to faulty Hold switch.

Without further ado, please follow this link to download and leave Torch your comments. More details from Torch are available after the break.

Download and Discuss

Right on the heels of Dark_AleX's 5.00M33-4 release developer Bubbletune has released an update to the Game Categories plugin bringing the version count to 3 and support for the updated vshmenu. If this is your first time reading about this homebrew, this plugin allows you to easily categorize the contents of your memorystick; specifically, content that displays under the GAME menu. More details from the readme after the break.

Discussion thread

Bubbletune's download site