Your Highness! Surprise!
(Credit: Geek)Our senior editor Leslie Katz pointed me to this story about the Queen of England getting a Nintendo Wii as a gift, and I thought to myself, "Ah, this is the kind of news that's gonna change the world."
The Royal Wii.
(Credit: Kombo)Apparently, THQ is doing a huge promotion of the latest release of a Wii game called BIG Family Games. According to THQ product manager Danielle Robinson, it's "the ultimate Wii game to get all family members, from grandparents to young children, playing together."
This game is the newest release in the company's "BIG" range of titles, which have been very successful in the E.U., with more than 600,000 units sold in the summer of 2008. It seems the company believed there was no family in Europe that could better represent the notion of "playing together" than the U.K's ultimate clan.
Secretly though, my interest is the gift itself. I don't yet have a Wii, and this one isn't just like any other you can get for around $200. The package includes a gold-plated console, Wii remote and Nunchuck controllers, and the game itself.
It's unclear whether the console has any special functionality, like the ability to play Blu-ray or even DVD movies. Nonetheless, the gift was delivered to Buckingham Palace on Thursday, and by now, it's pretty much priceless.
It's unlikely her Royal Highness, who just turned 83, will have much interest in the game or the console. At best, she might watch as others, namely the princes, enjoy it for her, as she listens to one of her iPods.
"Her majesty is far more down with technology than other ones might think."
(Credit: CC TF Duesing/Flickr)Imagine the Queen of England hitching up her tartan skirt and twirling around one of the large, but I'm guessing cold, drawing rooms at Buckingham Palace with U2's "In the Name of Love" transmitted down her earholes via characteristic white earphones.
Yes, President Obama has just gifted the queen an iPod.
Now we can all delight in the mere thought that the Her Majesty, or Liz, as some in her native land call her, will be perched over a MacBook and downloading a little Celine Dion or some early Snoop.
Four years ago, when she was conferring an honorary knighthood upon the burdened shoulders of Bill Gates, the queen admitted she had never used a computer. But these days she is no tech-illiterate. She has her own BlackBerry, just like the president's.
And I have very bad news for the president. The queen already has an iPod. At least two, it seems.
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License to kill HD-DVD?
(Credit: Amazon)Say what you will about PS3 sales, but it seems clear that the game console is having an impact on the next-gen DVD war. This week the Blu-ray version of Casino Royale broke into the Amazon top 10 for DVD sales and four other Blu-ray titles sit in the top 100. On the other hand, the top title on HD DVD, Happy Feet, is currently ranked at No. 117.
In a recent column, I suggested to readers that they should keep an eye on The Departed--it's a Warner release and therefore available on both HD DVD and Blu-ray--to get an idea of how the war was going. While the HD DVD currently sits at No. 195, the Blu-ray version of The Departed is at No. 75. To be clear, these numbers change hourly, so by the time you read this the rankings may be significantly different, but the overall trend seems clear. As several new Blu-ray releases have hit the market in the last few weeks, owners of PS3s (and the handful of overpriced standalone Blu-ray players) actually seem to be buying a movie or two.
With the PS3 geared toward a somewhat older, male-oriented demographic, it's not surprising that Bond would be a popular buy, but what's a bit of mystery is why the Casino Royale Blu-ray is ranked No. 17 on Amazon's U.K. site. Not only is the PS3 not yet available in the U.K., but Sony is bundling a Casino Royale Blu-ray with the first 500,000 PS3s it sells in Europe. Go figure.
For a full list of up-to-the-minute Amazon Blu-ray and HD DVD bestsellers (U.S. only), go to the HD Game Database.
If Louis XIV had a MySpace page, a Web cam and iPod he would totally cry his eyes out in this chair.
(Credit:
Born Rich)
I can hear him now: "Even though I totally distracted all the nobles by making them hang out at Versailles--finally--and have become the standard for any wannabe absolute monarch, I still feel like my people just don't get who I am. You know? I mean, I wish someone would just notice me as a regular guy with big hair who wears high heels, and not as, like, the quote-unquote Sun King."
Even if you're not an all-powerful French king, this would still rock any dorm room/bedroom/basement. Born Rich found this multimedia chair with built-in subwoofers that will hook up with any TV set, MP3 or CD player. It's upholstered in cashmere, wool and leather and has a speaker near each ear.
No word on the price, but it's almost a given the chair will cost you a pretty franc.
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