Things And Stuff: Thursday News Roundup

Nintendo is reportedly planning to release a new Pokemon GBA title in Japan on September 16th. Called Pokemon Emerald, it's the third game in the Ruby/Sapphire grouping, meaning that it features much of the gameplay from the previous titles along with two new main characters, a new feature Pokemon (Rayquaza) and various new story events and, in this case, Battle Theme Parks. The battle system has also been altered slightly, according to the reports, which originated in Japanese magazine Koro Koro Comics, and some speculation suggests trainers can now attack at the same time, or something of the sort. We're not big Pokemon fans. We won't pretend we are. Anyway - it's out in Japan this September, will be bundled with the wireless adapter, and you can see some scanned stuff on it over at The Magic Box here if you're so inclined. Which is a polite way of saying Get Orf Moi Laaaaand.

DreamCatcher has patched Painkiller to version 1.3.1, fixing a minor issue relating to loading games, and has also released a multiplayer demo for People Can Fly's straightforward first-person shooter, pitched at the version 1.3 codebase. The demo consists of two maps from the full game - DM_Cursed and DM_Sacred - and you can play them in either Free For All or The Light Bearer gametypes using four skins. Both files can be found here.