Games and gear

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 … Read more

Toshio Iwai, the designer of beloved Nintendo DS music game Electroplankton, has been showing a prototype of his jaw-dropping Tenori-On instrument since 2005. Last week, Yamaha announced plans to turn this Star Trek-worthy digital sound toy into an actual shipping product, retailing with an estimated price tag of around $1,000. For most consumers, that is an insane price for a beautiful sound toy, but electronic musicians and artists are falling all over themselves for this thing. The Tenori-On is a touch screen grid of white LEDs that allows you to compose music by activating little squares that trigger built-in … Read more

You thought that an Apple strategy to attract gamers was nonexistent. A certain ad appearing on Apple's U.K. site last night seems to indicate otherwise.

The site had an ad for a Mac Pro that stated: "Now quad-core or 8-core processing power. Configure yours today."

Don't bother checking out the U.K. Apple site. The ad is no longer there, but here is a screen shot thanks to our friends over at ZDNet. They managed a screen capture before it was taken down.

When asked whether a dual quad-core processor for a Mac Pro was … Read more

Ugh...looking back. And here we thought this industry was only supposed to move forward. Still, it's only fair that since we made such a stink about Dell's XPS 700 last year, we ought to give it credit for addressing one of that system's key problems, even if it is 10 months later.

If you'll recall, the Dell XPS 700 and XPS 710 shipped with Dell's own version of Nvidia's 590 SLI chipset. The Dell hardware lacked that chipset's support for BIOS-based overclocking of Intel's Core 2 Duo Extreme chips, as well … Read more

The Wii is quickly solidifying itself as the gadget that is perpetually making us think, "Hm, I never thought of that, but it's a cool idea." First the whole Wiimote thing, then Wii Sports, then the Opera browser, then the weather and news channels...this is one gaming console that's full of nutty features and add-ons that might seem wacked out at first, but which inevitably catch on in that kitschy Nintendo way.

And Nintendo's far from finished. Rumors are flying about the latest additions to the Wii, and the video game blogs are scrambling … Read more

The Brits are using a simulated combat environment developed by the University of Southern California, to treat soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

By bringing to life a "virtual Iraq," complete with the realistic thumps and bumps of battle, the program allows troops to "relive and confront psychological trauma." All this takes place in a graduated manner so as not to re-traumatize, according to the University of Reading's Visualisation Centre.

The Iraq simulation experience is "fully immersive," meaning that patients wear VR goggles that transport them to the virtual battlefield. There, an attending … Read more

With the video game market credited for racking up $7 billion in annual sales, even trade shows about the industry are big news for legions of loyal gamers. With the demise (or at least downsizing) of the Electronic Entertainment Exposition--the gigantic video game show held in LA each spring--smaller events, such as the Game Developers Conference are picking up the slack.

The show floor is bigger than last year's, and companies such as Sony and Nintendo have set up large E3-style multimedia booths, making the event's higher public profile one of the biggest stories coming out of GDC … Read more

Ubergizmo has spied that the International Spy Museum is selling the Cola Cam for about $18.

Cool, you may think. Who wouldn't want a camera shaped like a can of soda?

There are several reasons.

First, you have to hold it as if you are shot-gunning a beer, so you can't just sit it on a shelf and let it click. It's so obviously a camera that you would not need the spy for spycams surveillance kit.

Second, the flash that pops up makes it extremely obvious that this is not a can of Cindy Crawford's … Read more

Sony finally unveiled its big PlayStation 3 surprise at GDC 2007. After its short but intense pre-GDC rumor war with Kotaku, Sony announced Home, the new online service for the PS3.

Underneath the marketing hype that Gamespot and News.com both already covered, Home is essentially a cross between Second Life and Nintendo's Mii avatars. PS3 users will get their own customizable avatars and virtual homes with which they can go online, chat with and host friends, find players for online gaming, buy and show off clothing and decorations, accumulate game trophies, and other social gaming activities. The service … Read more