Gaming News Round-Up: December 22nd, 2004

Today's round-up includes a recall for the Japanese WarioWare: Touched, a new appointment for Digital Bridges, and another free Grand Theft Auto title from Rockstar. - Nintendo has recalled Sawaru! Made in Wario (to be released in North America as WarioWare: Touched) for the Nintendo DS in Japan, citing bugs that slipped through quality assurance. Certain combinations of software and hardware can prevent three of the minigames from being completed; two of them prevent the necessary lines from being drawn to win the game, while the third causes characters on the screen to flash in a way that stops them from being selected with the stylus. Nintendo has already set up a form on its website for affected customers to use in requesting replacement copies, which will begin shipping on December 24th. - Digital Bridges, one of the leading mobile game producers in the UK, has appointed a new Chairman of the Board. Richard Eyre, previously chief executive at Capital Radio and ITV where he oversaw gains in both companies’ performance, will be stepping up to lead Digital Bridges in furthering their goals. "We are extremely pleased that as we make such rapid commercial steps that Richard is stepping up to the role of Chairman to enhance the board's support for the executive team," said Brian Greasley, CEO of Digital Bridges. The company recently announced $18 million in new funding. - The PC version of the first Grand Theft Auto game has been available as a free download from Rockstar Games' website for some time now, and those who sign up for Rockstar’s mailing list can now avail themselves of its sequel, gratis. The newest addition to the “Rockstar Classics” series, Grand Theft Auto 2 is the last top-down installment of the series before Grand Theft Auto III broke the series’ popularity wide open. The game has been slightly upgraded to play on current PCs; system requirements and installation information can be found at Rockstar’s website.