Gaming

If you've been waiting anxiously for the U.S. release of Nintendo's new DS Lite handheld video game console, you might want to head toward Denver.

That's because, Joystiq reports, a Target there, as well as some other retailers across the country, have been selling the devices in advance of the official June 11 launch.

Apparently, the stores have decided to thumb their noses at Nintendo's stated launch date and have taken it upon themselves to put the machines on store shelves.

So is this big news? Maybe and maybe not. But let's hope it'… Read more

iRobot, maker of the Roomba, last year released its code in the spirit of the open-source movement. But the company probably never envisioned a hack that turns the machine into a computer-controlled "slightly cruddy musical instrument." (Note: The software is available only for the Mac at present.)

Given that the Xbox 360 tops out at $399 and that Nintendo's Wii probably won't cost more than $250, it's kind of a logical leap to feel that Sony's $599 price tag for its high-end PlayStation 3 is a bit hefty.

But now, according to Ars Technica, that suspicion has been confirmed, thanks to the good folks at the Japanese-language game and entertainment magazine, Famitsu.

They conducted a survey and discovered that 88 percent of readers said the PS3 will be too expensive. Even worse for Sony, the survey reported that 69 percent are most anticipating … Read more

Video devices that attach to eyeglasses have been developed for years, but they generally have been either too clunky or too expensive--or both--for mass consumption. Mirage Innovations claims to have changed all that, touting an "affordable" lightweight pair of glasses embedded with tiny screens that it says provides an experience equivalent to watching a high-quality 42-inch screen from 7 feet.

Mac addicts and "Star Wars" aficionados are some of the most loyal fans alive, so it was probably inevitable that someone would invent something to bring the two forces together. MacSaber is a piece of software that promises to "turn your Mac into a Jedi weapon" by using the computer's motion sensor to create lightsaber sound effects.

Are the prices of today's gaming consoles reasonable or too high? This post attempts to answer that question with a comparative analysis of console prices since 1976, both in absolute amounts and adjusted for inflation.

When both Nintendo and Sony showed off motion-sensitive controllers for their forthcoming Wii (formerly the Revolution) and PlayStation 3 video game controllers at E3 last week, it seemed like that was the natural direction for such equipment to take going forward.

But now it appears that Nintendo thinks that Sony's adoption of the motion-sensitive system, which allows players to control much of their on-screen movement simply by moving the controller around with their hands, was far more than a coincidence.

According to GameDailyBiz, the head of Nintendo's British operations has outright accused Sony of stealing the idea for the motion-sensing system. … Read more

Over at Terra Nova, we discover that one of the virtual-worlds experts has had to spend a fair amount of time the last couple weeks fending off threatening e-mails from MindArk, the publisher of the virtual world "Project Entropia."

It seems that when MindArk announced a couple of weeks ago that it had a new system that would allow players to withdraw funds from their avatars' accounts in cash via an ATM card--a fact that The New York Times got very excited about--Dan Hunter, a Terra Nova founder and a law professor at Wharton School of Business posted that he thought the news was no big deal. … Read more

The fate of a California law banning the sale of certain violent video games to minors is now in the hands of a federal judge, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte heard arguments Friday in San Jose, Calif., from attorneys on both sides of the case, which challenges the constitutionality of the law passed last year. The plaintiffs are the Video Software Dealers Association and Entertainment Software Association.

Whyte said he'd rule on the case shortly, The Chronicle said.

In a preliminary ruling in October, Whyte blocked enforcement of the law, saying it … Read more