Games and gear

Dead or alive, the GameCube's a bad deal

Nintendo can't seem to make up its mind. The company was no longer manufacturing GameCubes or developing titles for the console, according to company spokesperson Perrin Kaplan (quoted in a GameDaily interview earlier this week). That prompted a slew of teary-eyed GameCube retrospectives and obituaries. Now comes word from Nintendo's U.K. arm (as reported at Eurogamer) that the company is "still continuing production of GameCube hardware and GameCube software."

That's enough for Kotaku to declare the 'Cube as being "still alive and well," but it's missing the real story. Whether or … Read more

An all-American car for an all-American pastime

Corvettes and video games, is there anything more American?

As with other car contests, part of the prize for "Best in Show" at the fourth annual Gran Turismo Awards at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas was that the car would be featured in a video game.

A 1960 Chevy Corvette by Art Morrison Enterprises, who also took Best Hot Rod at the November 2006 event, will be featured in the next edition of Gran Turismo.

This will not simply be an artist's rendering.

Jalopnik reports that the guys from Gran Turismo have … Read more

Play the Goblin on PS3's 'Spider-Man 3'

Spider-Man 3 is shaping up to be one of the biggest movies of the year, and like any blockbuster it's getting its own video game. Usually video games based on movies based on comic books tend to completely bite, but Spider-Man has so far managed to dodge the bullet. Though repetitive, Spider-Man 2 turned out to be a fun, attractive game that captured the web-slinger's web-swinging beautifully. So I still have hopes for the Spider-Man 3 game.

PlayStation 3 owners have even more reason to be excited about Spider-Man 3. According to IGN, the Spider-Man 3 game will … Read more

Nvidia's certified Vista driver finalized, SLI support still in beta

Good news for everyone but SLI owners. Nvidia just released a Windows Vista-certified 100.65 graphics card driver for its GeForce 8800 cards. You can find the driver on Nvidia's site. That's great for those of you running Vista and a single GeForce 8800 card. For anyone who has an Nvidia SLI mode of any flavor, you're still stuck in beta mode for now. We haven't played with the new driver yet, so we can't say just how beta the SLI support is. Nvidia's driver notes indicate that full SLI support will come in … Read more

Wii battery packs and sensor bars: Neat things from Nyko

Nyko sent us its new Wireless Sensor Bar and a Charge Station for the Nintendo Wii, so I took it home for the weekend and gave it a spin. This is only a first look, but the results for both devices were very promising.

The Nyko Charge Station is an all-in-one battery dock for Wii controllers. It comes with two rechargeable battery packs, two rubberized covers, and a two-slot charging dock for the Wiimotes to sit in. The battery packs replace the AAs that normally charge the Wii remotes, and the covers have a small hole in them so the … Read more

My relationship skills need help...from THIS?

This little Tamagotchi-like device, called the "Virtual Boyfriend," promises to help "practice your relationship skills." Okay, I'm not denying that my dating prowess might need a little bit of tweaking here and there, but this is just a bit much. Rather than raising a pet, you have to learn how to treat a boyfriend right--presents, dates, and, uh, "wild passion." (What?!?) Ooh, and there's a twist, since the Virtual Boyfriend can make "decisions" too (how novel!) so it can get unpredictable and exciting!

Thanks, but no thanks. I think … Read more

Gaming mouse: I blink, therefore I am

I guess I could call the R2 Gaming Mouse Mark II a flashy device, but I would never go with such an obvious pun. Ever.

Still, the blinking LEDs were the first thing that caught my eye when I spotted this gadget for $59.99 on ThinkGeek. And they're programmable, so you can make them pulse to the unique beat of your own first-person shooting.

The apparent appeal of this mouse, besides its disco aura, is that it's customizable beyond the lights--a definite plus for gamers. Using the PAL 2.0 programming language, players can assign different functions … Read more

Long Weekend Project: Wii chocolate

It's a bit late for Valentine's Day, but this was just too cool to pass up. Plus, if you're adventurous, it could be a nice wholesome President's Day long weekend activity. Flickr user "Bakalov" has made chocolates using the packaging from the Wiimote and nunchuck. Just remember, it's the packaging. This epicurean Nintendo fan was not actually filling his Wiimote with chocolate. Got it? Good.

As Kotaku said, "Everything is better if you fill it with molten chocolate.

When your spaceship is in distress

So you're ready to take on the world with your Lightsaber phone and MP3 Lightsaber. But wait--your Millennium Falcon develops engine trouble. What's a Jedi to do?

Why, whip out your Safety Wand and Megaphone, of course--"a safety beacon that amplifies your voice up to five football fields away," as Uber-Review says. It's not an official piece of equipment from the Lucas empire, but it sure could have fooled us. (Do we hear the pitter-patter of trademark attorneys?)

Anyway, at least your ship has been rescued. And good thing you didn't have a … Read more

Wii Preview: Super Paper Mario, Mario Party 8, and Mario Woods. Tiger! Er, Tiger Woods.

Nintendo threw a little shindig last night, and I went to sample the company's upcoming wares. The games Nintendo showed off included Super Paper Mario, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, and Mario Party 8. Frankly, all three games look darn good.

I spent the most time on Super Paper Mario, sequel to the excellent GameCube RPG Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and it's even weirder than its predecessor. Unlike the straight role-playing in previous Paper Mario games, Super Paper Mario is a puzzle-filled platform game with some loose RPG elements. The titular 2D plumber gets the power to … Read more