Round Up: DS Lite For Australia, Blu-ray Movie Delay, Romero On Oblivion Rating Shift

Today's round up includes the announcement of the Nintendo DS Lite launch date for Australia, news of the first batch of Blu-ray movies being delayed by a month, and John Romero speaking out regarding the recent rating change for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, as well as the latest GameSetWatch posts, Serious Games Source news, product news and Gamasutra job postings. - Nintendo Australia announced that it will release the newly redesigned and upgraded Nintendo DS Lite handheld in Australia on June 1 for $199.95 AUD. The system, which will only be available in the “polar white” color, will feature brighter screens, and be approximately two-thirds the size of the original Nintendo DS and about 20 percent lighter. In Australia, Nintendo DS continues to sell through at a higher rate than all other handheld systems, and remains the best selling handheld console since its release just over a year ago. “We love the Nintendo DS and the new experiences it has brought to gaming,” says Rose Lappin, Director of Sales and Marketing. “The super stylish Nintendo DS Lite adds a touch of class to the unit and the brighter screen is remarkably vibrant. Expect some fantastic software products in the coming months to take advantage of this.” - According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony's Blu-ray discs and accompanying next-gen video format will see a slight delay, with the first batch of eight movies coming to market on June 20 at the earliest, rather than the previously announced date of May 23. Blu-ray is particularly relevant to game professionals because of its use in Sony's next-gen PlayStation 3 console. The move, according to Sony, was made in order to ensure a more coordinated launch effort, with movies coming to market much closer to the availability of the Blu-ray players themselves, the first of which is a Samsung model that isn't expected until June 25. - Former id Software and Midway designer John Romero has chimed in with his own unique brand of wisdom on his blog regarding the recent re-rating of Bethesda's Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion from teen to mature. The industry icon, best known for being the co-founder of id software and one of the minds behind PC games such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake, speaks out in his blog on the topic of the mod community harming “screwing up the industry they're supposed to be helping", commenting: “In 1993 we opened up all our data to the industrious and ambitious folks out there who want to see what it's like to be able to make their favorite game a little more like what they'd want... now what's going to happen? You'll probably start seeing game data files becoming encrypted and the open door on assets getting slammed shut just to keep modders from financially screwing the company they should be helping.” - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister weblog GameSetWatch include news of upcoming Xbox Live Arcade titles, Ritual Entertainment's E3 promotional model campaign for SiN Episodes, and a rather cheerful interview with Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto. - Also updated today: Serious Games Source news on the continuing media coverage of diplomacy game Peacemaker, plus Gamasutra product news regarding the release of truePlay from Caligari Corporation, as well as the latest Gamasutra job postings, featuring openings from Backbone Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment, LucasArts, Rainbow Studios, Red Storm Entertainment, and The Illinois Institute of Art, and a Gamasutra project listing for concept/trailer help from Codefire Studios.