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On Monday, we reported on the Wii Fit shortage. But believe it or not, the actual Wii console is still in short supply, a year and a half after its release. If you're like us, you figured that after the holiday season the overwhelming demand for the Nintendo Wii would finally let up and you'd finally be able to buy the console easily online and in stores. However, the Wii is still essentially sold out online; we couldn't find the console available to buy from major retailers like Amazon.com, Best Buy, and Circuit City. We did find a few places where you could buy a Wii, but they required you to buy an expensive bundle, like GameStop's $400 bundle or Wal-Mart's $500 bundle. According to Wii Tracker.com, you can't buy a Wii online for less than $390.

We contacted Nintendo for a comment on the persistant Wii shortages. Here's what the company said:... Read more

The Wii Fit, when it made its debut last year: There was no mention of moms in the demo.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

If this report is true, then some marketing executives are even more out of touch with reality than we thought. And that's saying a lot.

According to Reuters, Wal-Mart is planning to make a huge push for the Wii Fit as "a perfect gift" for Mother's Day, splashing promotions for the game across its Web site this weekend. We won't even get into the fact that the holiday falls on May 11 this year, more than a week before the game is even available on the U.S. market. Rather, as always, it's the thought that counts--and in this case, it might be one that's gone badly awry.

Do you sign the card, "Dear Mom: Hope you lose weight"? You might as well go all out and get her a scale to go with it. If you really must go there, at least consider including a "Wii Party Station" to soften the blow.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the largest contract chip manufacturer in the world, will crank up its MEMS foundry business. Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology is used in Apple's iPhone and the Nintendo Wii.

Nintendo Wii uses MEMS technology for motion detection

(Credit: Nintendo)

MEMS typically have a microprocessor and other components such as microsensors. For example, MEMS technology is used in the iPhone and Wii to allow these devices to detect motion and changes in orientation.

In the iPhone, a device called an accelerometer detects when the user rotates the iPhone from portrait to landscape modes, then automatically adjusts the display, so the entire width of a web page or a photo can be seen in its proper aspect ratio.

Hewlett-Packard also uses MEMS technology for its inkjet print-head that combines integrated electronics with microfluidic channels to control ink droplets when printing.

TSMC will provide manufacturing services such as surface micromachining and manufacturing processes for CMOS-MEMS integration and packaging, according to Nikkei's Tech-On. (CMOS stands for complementary metal oxide semiconductor, a common class of integrated circuits used in microprocessors.)

MEMS technology, which in the past was limited mainly to in-house manufacturing or automotive products, is now being applied to a raft of consumer devices and mobile phones, the Tech-On report said.

The MEMS industry was estimated to be worth US$5.95 billion in 2007 and it is expected to exceed US$10.771 billion in 2011, the report said.

TSMC will detail the company's MEMS business plan at a technical seminar in Tokyo on May 15, the report said.

(Credit: Jeff Bakalar/CNET Networks)

CNET was more than happy to attend an exclusive roundtable Q&A regarding Wii Fit with Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto on Thursday afternoon at the Le Parker Meridien in New York. Miyamoto led the presentation with an in-depth look at the origin of Wii Fit and the challenges that came along in developing such an ambitious platform.

Interestingly enough, Wii Fit was conceived by Miyamoto in the process of his own personal awareness of his body weight. By graphing his weight over a period of time, he was able to see a visual representation of how it fluctuated. With his family encouraging him to keep in shape, Miyamoto did so by creating a personal game out of the whole thing--as a result, Wii Fit was born.

What separates Wii Fit from other "working-out-can-be-fun" concepts is that it creates a game around each person who plays it. Nintendo hopes that this personalized experience will attract people who would otherwise not be playing video games--and we think they're on to something. By making Wii Fit an easy-to-use, practical, and accessible device, it can appeal to just about anyone who can stand on a scale. Wii Fit may not have you dropping pounds as fast as intense exercise and dieting would, but it can definitely make keeping track of your progress a whole lot easier and definitely more entertaining. Miyamoto explained that Wii Fit makes you more aware of your body, which is the first step toward improving your health. Wii Fit is already starting to pop up in gyms across Japan and we'd imagine a similar response here in the states. ... Read more

(Credit: Nintendo)

Rumors have been circulating for several weeks that the upcoming Nintendo interactive fitness game, Wii Fit, which comes bundled with the Wii Balance Board peripheral (pictured), would be priced at $89.99. Well, now that number has become official along with the not-so-secret May 19 launch date.

According to Nintendo's press release, Wii Fit boasts, "A dynamic mix of more than 40 yoga, aerobics, strength training, and balance activities, Wii Fit provides consumers with a fun, easy, and affordable way to incorporate exercise into their daily routines. Using the included wireless Wii Balance Board accessory, every member of the household can step up and stay active, setting individual fitness goals and tracking their progress over time."

If you happen to live in or around New York, it's worth noting that from April 18 through 20, the "first 1,000 consumers who place a $5 deposit for Wii Fit at the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza will receive a limited edition Wii Fit T-shirt featuring the image and reproduced autograph of legendary Nintendo video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto."

Nintendo says it's already sold 1.4 million Fit kits in Japan and chances are the bundle is going to do very well in North America. Will Fit match the success of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, which also carry somewhat hefty price tags? Hard to say. What do you guys think? Can casual gaming translate into buns of steel?

It's only rock 'n roll, but Wii like it. Harmonix, the game developer acquired by MTV Networks to create the Rock Band video game, announced Monday that the software will be available for Nintendo's Wii console on June 22. Currently, versions of Rock Band have been created for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3.

(Credit: Harmonix/MTV)

Rumors of a Wii edition of Rock Band first started to circulate early last month. The game was originally released in November amid the soaring popularity of Activision's Guitar Hero franchise, which had a Hollywood-worthy $115 million opening weekend for its most recent game, Guitar Hero III. MTV's Rock Band puts a spin on the concept by letting participants play bass, drums, and vocals in addition to guitar.

Despite the inherent similarities to Guitar Hero, Rock Band has been a huge hit, too.

But, just like a rerun of Behind the Music, the guitar-playing video game craze has been ridden with drama. Harmonix developed the original Guitar Hero, but MTV Networks acquired it in 2006 to create rival Rock Band and distribute it through gaming mega-publisher Electronic Arts. Meanwhile, guitar manufacturer Gibson Guitar has filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of both Guitar Hero and Rock Band as well as six major retailers--according to Gibson, it's held a patent on a guitar-playing video game since 1999.

So far, none of the gaming console manufacturers--Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo--have been targeted by Gibson's suit.

The June 22 Rock Band Wii release will encompass the U.S. and Canada markets, and a core bundle (software, drums, microphone, and one guitar) will cost $169.99. Standalone instruments will also be sold. It'll feature a lineup of 63 songs, including five exclusive to the Wii.

We put stuff into computers (and, for that matter, get stuff out) in pretty much the same way we have for a good couple of decades.

Of course, we still use keyboards of a fairly standard design as our primary mechanism to feed words into a computer and mice are well-ensconced as the navigational tool of choice. Over in the gaming world, it's the familiar two-handed game controller that predominates. In fact, I sense that one sees fewer joysticks, steering wheels, various oddball keyboards, and trackballs than one saw in the past. This probably reflects that "productivity" PCs are shifting toward notebooks on the one hand and that gaming is moving toward consoles on the other.

The one clear counter-example is the emergence of "thumbing" (as opposed to typing). But this is really more about making compromises in service of the form factor of handheld devices than it is a genuine innovation--however commonplace it has become.

However, we may be starting to see some genuine change.

The motion-sensing Nintendo Wii remote isn't a particularly new concept. We've see academic work in data gloves of various types going back to the 1990s. What's different is that the Wii is mass market. Volumes mean not only lower cost, but an incentive for software makers to write games and other applications that support and use the device in interesting ways. Because it corresponds to the physical world, hand movement seems a natural fit with many tasks and manipulations. As a result, I expect that we'll see descendants of the Wii in increasingly widespread use.

Another big trend we're seeing is multitouch. As CNET News.com's Tom Krazit notes, it's Apple that has pushed this technology into the mainstream--starting with the iPhone in the handheld arena and the MacBook Air in the notebook space. (On the notebook, it's the touchpad rather than the whole screen that is multitouch and it's less of a big deal as a result.) I've been arguing for a while that being able to draw a "napkin drawing" or a "whiteboard sketch" is one of the things that's largely missing today when we work and collaborate remotely. The combination of multitouch and writeable LCDs at affordable price points, and supported by software, would be a genuine step forward.

These aren't the only possibilities. Six-degrees-of-freedom controllers have long been used in 3D engineering programs but they've been priced for the CAD professional. Logitech has come out with the affordable (about $55) 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator PE (Personal Edition) 3D Navigation Device version that makes a great Google Earth companion. If 3D virtual worlds ever take off in a big way, devices such as these would be a natural and obvious fit.

Then there's always voice recognition. It's getting better. But that could be a statement for just about any year. And general-purpose voice recognition remains a niche. You won't catch me betting on it (although I suspect its time will come--someday).

In the video game industry hardware sales are an extremely important factor in deciding which console a game should be developed for. Realizing this, companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have done their best to keep consoles in the hands of consumers and sell as many systems as possible each month.

And while some of the more common practices of selling consoles are already used--promotion of a software library, marketing, and pricing--a relatively new phenomenon has developed where console availability has dropped significantly and hardware sales stay at a relatively steady, yet inflated level.

In essence, hardware scarcity is running rampant and yet, demand for these devices has grown at an astounding rate. In fact, most experts in the field think 2008 could be the biggest year for gaming ever.

So what is it about a scarce product that makes us want it more? Does it somehow tell us that the device is far more valuable and worthwhile if it's not available? If so, does that line of thinking even make sense?

Sadly, I'm left wondering if we've entered a phase in the video game industry where scarcity is being used as a tool to increase demand, only to be followed by a flood of consoles to satisfy it.

There is no doubt whatsoever that 2007 was a impressive year for video games. Everyone has their own Top 10 list, but we hate the whole numbered list cliche. Instead, we've grouped the Top 10, in no particular order, giving each game its own due respect. These 10 games achieve a certain elite status that separate themselves from all the rest providing us with some of the most advanced digital entertainment available today. So without any further ado, please enjoy our picks for the Top 10 Games of 2007.