The PS2 isn’t dead by a long way and will keep selling well until 2010, according to one of the big bods at Sega. Sega chief Simon Jeffrey thinks it will live on thanks to some great family games at good prices and the fact that the hardware is comparatively cheap. You may have a point there Simon.

Tom Clancy’s getting a bit fancy with a new game which takes the action off the ground and into the skies. Tom Clancy’s Air Combat is Ubisoft’s latest announcement and will no doubt have some political shenanigans behind all that dog fighting.

Time to preview a game I only saw for the first time today when I stumbled upon it by accident online. It’s Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS and this one’s got me very excited as it doesn’t use any buttons on the handheld, just the stylus. You also play the game with the DS turned on its side as if you were playing Brain Training or Hotel Dusk.

It’s an all new story with a female Ninja who is Hiyabusa’s apprentice form the Ninja Gaiden console games. It’s set between Ninja Gaiden 1 and 2 and will provide hints at what happens in the console sequel.

It’s the controls that really sets this game apart. ON the left screen you have a map and on the right you have a portrait view of the action. Your ninja follows the movement of the stylus. Tap on an enemy to attack them, then swipe through them to get direct input of what your sword does to them.

You can also cast magic as the left screen turns into a hand making magical gestures as you have to trace a symbol on the right screen with the stylus. Do it successfully and you can then point your magic at your enemies.

There’s no confirmed release date for this game yet in the UK but if you like the sound of it you can import it from the States in a couple of weeks.

Time to take a close look at Super Paper Mario. We’ve seen Mario appear on the Wii a couple of times already with Mario Party 8 and Strikers and this is probably the closest we’ll come to a proper Mario game before Super Mario Galaxy gets everyone in a spin just before Christmas. So, is it any good? Let me tell you.

At its core the game is a cross between a 2d platformer and a simple role-playing game. But you’re not fighting Bowser in this one. This time, the evil Count Black materialises from another dimension and spirits the princess away so you must make your way through many lands filled with Goombas and other bad guys to rescue her.

Graphically, the game has a great style about it. When Mario turns it’s plain to see he’s paper thin, but they’ve been very clever about how they use this feature. If Mario gets stuck, he can press a button to flip the game from 2d to 3d to make his way past an obstacle or find hidden items. You have to flip back quickly though or you’ll start losing health points.

It’s a very interesting concept that hasn’t been used in any game before and the game deserves extra points for this innovation alone.

There are also many items to pick up and use, and lots of characters to talk to on your travels.

My only big gripe with the game is the HUGE amounts of text you have to scroll through, especially at the start. You’ll be playing for a good 15 minutes before you can actually play the game properly where you can run through the levels, bash blocks and have a good time.

So how does the Wii’s motion sensing get used? Well, for the majority of the game you hold the remote sideways like a joypad, and occasionally point it at the screen to find hidden items as if you were using a torch. You can also shake the controller up and down to activate special powers.

This game’s great fun but it’s unfortunate it’s broken up with so much dialogue, and it has a glaring glitch. If you get to chapter 2-2 and talk to a character called Mimi, make sure you flip into 3d and collect the golden key. If you don’t do this, the game will crash and you’ll have to restart from your last save point. Tut tut tut Nintendo! II would have given this game 8 out of 10 but because of the annoying glitch it loses a mark.

Super Paper Mario gets 7 out of 10.

Sony’s new Sixaxis controller has accidentally been revealed to the public – by EA. Apparently the new rumble controller was handed to a punter trying out Burnout Paradise at their pre-show media event

Nintendo have called for another push in the war against piracy. Although it plans to sell more than 1 million DS lites in South Korea this year, they’re trying to clamp down on people copying and downloading their games on the internet. So far, Seoul hasn’t cracked down on the offenders.