gaming

Here in the U.S., our head of state couldn't seem to master the Segway, but Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is apparently quite the video game diva.

The undoubtedly reputable U.K. publication The People reported earlier this week that the 81-year-old royal got a hold of a Wii console (according to a "Palace source," it belongs to her 25-year-old grandson, Prince William) and "showed all the signs of becoming a Nintendo addict."

The Queen's game of choice seems to be Wii Bowling (what, did you expect Call of Duty 3?) and the … Read more

At first glance, Re-Mission comes across as a stylishly produced, anime-influenced video game. But the targets in question are cancer cells, which the character Roxxi the nanobot blasts with the Chemoblaster, the Radiation Gun, and the Antibiotic Rocket.

Re-Mission is specifically designed as a health improvement intervention for teens and young adults who have cancer. Game producers at HopeLab start with a desired health outcome, and then reverse engineer a game that encourages positive behaviors, adding motivation and fun into something as scary as a kid's battle against cancer.

HopeLab Vice President Ellen LaPointe spoke at the Sandbox Summit … Read more

Are you a hardcore PC online gamer who's constantly restricted by the always-too-short-or-in-the-way cable on your headset? If so, Creative's new HS-1200 may be just the ticket. It's a fully wireless headset--the first such full duplex stereo model (according to the company), which means it can simultaneously send and receive audio. The PC headset will work with any VoIP or voice application, but Creative is aiming straight at the PC gaming market. The HS-1200 communicates with your PC via a USB transceiver that's about the size of a hockey puck--which also includes a separate umbilical cable … Read more

In the realm of companies I wouldn't expect to release an online game, Symantec is right up at the top of the list.

But that's just what the security software firm has done with its Cyber Smackdown online quiz, a Web-based game that tasks players with answering questions related to cyber security.

It's a good idea, and if Symantec had bothered to come up with some difficult questions or even a few dozen different questions, it would have also been a nice manifestation.

Unfortunately, it seems--from my multiple tests of the game on both Safari and Firefox, … Read more

A group of video game giants that changed the way people play in the '80s, '90s, and 2000s were honored with technology and engineering Emmy Awards during a ceremony Monday night in Las Vegas amid the Consumer Electronics Show, according to Sony Online Entertainment.

The awards were handed out in two categories. The first was development of massively multiplayer online role-playing games. The winners were Sony Online Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment, and AOL/Time Warner for EverQuest, World of Warcraft, and Neverwinter Nights, respectively.

In the user-generated content and game modification category, Electronic Arts, Id Software, and Linden Lab were honored … Read more

Over at Hustler of Culture today, I read about artist Aaron Skillman's latest creation, a portable Guitar Hero turntable controller.

This is a pretty cool gizmo that allows users to play the game using the turntable to scroll up or down. To my untrained eye, watching Skillman demo the device on his YouTube video, it seems that the turntable controller gives the same control over the game with a smaller and perhaps easier to use form factor.

More to the point, Skillman, a self-described "maker," told me in a telephone conversation Monday that the turntable controller was … Read more

Maybe this won't come as a surprise to everyone who uses Web sites for game cheats (Yours Truly included), but as for those of us who make a living wordsmithing, we are dismayed (15 points) that any player would ever take the joy out of Scrabble by cheating (14 points). Nevertheless, Scrabble-cheat Web sites are proliferating (17 points). Mainly they do what any word nerd worth his or her salt is supposed to do mentally: rearrange your eight randomly-allotted letters to make a new word.

If you are five years old, or perhaps new to the English language, perhaps … Read more

Our friendly rivals over at Wired have released their predictions about the gaming life for 2008. Will the Wii supply continue to be as tightly managed as DeBeers' diamonds? Does the "gaming for fitness" movement stand a chance? Will Nintendo finally pony up for more memory? Will Metal Gear Solid 4 save Sony's skin? Does every game from here on out have to be an immersive world? Is there, in fact, life after Halo? And when will buyers be able to expect HD as a standard on gaming machines?

See what's prognosticated at Wired: "Game|Life's Predictions (And Advice) For 2008&… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Acer and Gateway don't have a whole lot of news here at CES--aside from a few new gaming desktops and a laptop--but it is new that they are here as one. Their combined logos were everywhere in their displays.

The transition since Acer's purchase of Gateway late last year for $710 million is nearly complete, the company says. The same person--Rudi Schmidleithner--now runs both Gateway and Acer's American business unit.

While Acer declined to give many details about the coming year, it did hint that it's going to be a busy one. While … Read more