Gaming

As if the video game console battles surrounding the Microsoft Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution weren't enough, Nintendo on Tuesday released its new GameBoy Micro in Japan.

Tiny by game device standards, the Micro, which will hit U.S. shelves on Sept. 19 at around $100, is only 4 inches long by 2 inches deep and 0.68 inches thick, reports PC World.

According to Nintendo, the Micro has about the same power as previous generation GameBoys, despite its miniscule size, and can run GameBoy Advance games.

Nintendo timed its Japanese release of the Micro with the … Read more

If you're gonna go around chopping up hulking monsters, you might as well do it right (that's what Mom always says, at least). If you concur, take note that NubyTech has just upped the ante on its "Resident Evil 4" Chainsaw Controller with an enhanced version for the PlayStation 2. The blood-splattered plastic gadget, based on the infamous in-game chainsaw, is meant to enhance the gameplay's fright factor.

NubyTech already makes the accessory for the GameCube, but the new version has been redesigned down to the blood spots, reddish-orange color and display stand. The machine … Read more

If history tells us anything, it's that the Chinese and Japanese have no love lost for each other. After all, the Japanese invaded and occupied China in 1937, a military struggle that didn't end until 1945.

Well, if a video game said to be currently under joint development by the Chinese government and the Communist Youth League of China is any indication, it seems the bitter feelings between the two countries related to that war may still linger. According to The Asahi Shimbun, China has been working on the "Anti-Japan War Online," an online game that … Read more

Last month, Amazon.com mistakenly posted a pre-order price for the PlayStation 3 and then begged it off, saying it was nothing more than a placeholder page. Well, now it's apparently backtracking again, this time with the Xbox 360.

According to Punchjump, Amazon had been taking pre-orders for the Xbox 360 and was planning to deliver them through its partner, Toys R US. But now, the site reports, the two companies have just sent out a letter to anyone who placed a pre-order apologizing and canceling the transaction.

"Due to a system error, we mistakenly listed the Xbox … Read more

For game developers, one of the stickiest tasks has always been porting their creations to new devices. If they built a game for PCs, it would usually be a major ordeal to get it running on PlayStation 2s, for example.

Well, according to Associated Press reports, if the South Koreans have anything to say about this, that dynamic could soon be a distant memory. That's because the country's Ministry of Information and Communication has unveiled a cross-platform game engine called, appropriately enough, the "cross-platform game engine." How's that for ingenuity in naming?

In any case, … Read more

After months searching the country for someone to play the popular character Queen Antonia from its online game "EverQuest II," Sony Online Entertainment has finally made its choice.

Over the weekend, the company picked Anna Wainscoat, a gamer from Sacramento, Calif., to travel to fan events and conventions and portray the sexy queen. Wainscoat won out over more than 200 other candidates for the gig. She'll also get a pictorial in Stuff magazine as part of her reward for looking more like the animated Queen Antonia, at least to the judges, than anyone else.

The search last … Read more

Lest anyone worry about Electronic Arts' "Madden NFL" franchise, the word from Redwood City, Calif., where the company is headquartered, should calm those fears.

Apparently, with the 2006 NFL season about to start, the world can't get enough of "Madden." EA reported Thursday that the latest entry in the ages-old franchise sold a whopping 1.7 million copies in its first week.

Befitting a sport obsessed by records--the most passes, the most receptions, touchdowns, arrests, etc.--the 2006 "Madden" game appears to have done better in its first week than any previous version … Read more

With the world going a little nutty Wednesday over Microsoft's announcement of the pricing for its forthcoming Xbox 360 consoles, Sony and its equally exciting and equally forthcoming PlayStation 3 were mere afterthoughts.

Most people had thought pricing for the two consoles would still be secret for some time, but Microsoft dashed those expectations with its revelation in Germany Wednesday. That leaves Sony--and Nintendo, of course, whose Revolution console will launch next year--as having products over whose pricing everyone can still play the speculation game.

But according to the video game blog, Joystiq, the PS3's pricing may have … Read more

Sometime this holiday season, the Xbox 360 will hit the market and usher in the next generation of video game consoles. In the lead-up to that yet-to-be-determined date, there will be never-ending speculation about the pricing of the 360, as well as of its brethren, the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Revolution.

One of the chief elements of the pricing discussion surrounds the specs of the various machines. And while there seems to be pretty good understanding of the basic specs, many have mused about the possibilities that Microsoft and Sony, at least, might futz around with those specs. … Read more