Round-Up: DS Production Ramps Up, Desperate Housewives Game, Game Music For Education

Today's news round-up includes news of Nintendo increasing production of the redesigned DS Lite to meet demand in Japan, Buena Vista Games signing an agreement to publish a PC game based on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives, and the global availability of music from award-winning video games for music education programs, as well as the latest posts from GameSetWatch and Gamasutra job postings. - Nintendo has announced that it will be increasing production of its recently released DS Lite in Japan, and they hope to increase the number of units shipped from 450,000 units to 550,000 units for the month of March. In addition, the company has announced that in order to meet increased consumer demand, they plan to ship 700,000 DS systems to Japanese retailers in April. As of yet, there still is not a release date set for the DS Lite in either North America or Europe, though many expect this news to come from Nintendo's pre-E3 press conference on May 9. - Buena Vista Games announced on Friday that the company will publish a PC life simulation game based on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. In the Desperate Housewives game, players take on the role of a new housewife who moves into Wisteria Lane and unlocks neighborhood scandals. "Buena Vista Games is proud to partner with ABC Entertainment and Touchstone Television to bring the popular 'Desperate Housewives' franchise to fans and gamers," said Graham Hopper, senior vice president and general manager, Buena Vista Games. "This game allows players to move to Wisteria Lane and live all the gossip, drama and intrigue of a true desperate housewife." - Education music publisher Alfred, along with the U.S. video game concert tour Video Games Live announced that they have made available music from award-winning video games to music education programs the world over. Now band and orchestra educators will be able to purchase concert band, marching band, and orchestra arrangements of the soundtracks to several recognized video games, some of which are also performed by live orchestras during the Video Game Live concert tour. “Alfred is always looking for new ways to inspire kids to experience the joy of making music, and the music coming out of the video game industry is amazing,” said Andrew Surmani, Vice President of Marketing and Managing Director, School & Church Publishing. “We look for music that is not only beautifully written, but will appeal to students and music educators alike.” - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister weblog GameSetWatch include a link to classic scanned game brochures, a fan-made video exploring Michael Jackson's contribution to Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and a comic strip exploring the training rigors of Little Mac, of Punch-Out!! fame. - Also updated today: product news, featuring Virtools' move to the PSP, 3Dconnexion's 3D Input Device SDK, and Enzyme Labs' game testing facility, as well as the latest Gamasutra job postings, featuring positions from Activision / Infinity Ward, Buzz Monkey Software, Factor 5, Immersion Medical, LimeLife, Inc., Telltale Games, and Vicarious Visions.