Tech Digest

We love Wii because...

Where else can you spend a happy hour or two pulling worms out of rabbits' teeth? Click below for a bonkers clip from one of the mini-games in the upcoming Wii Rayman title. Since when did worms have teeth? Actually, since when did rabbits go to the dentist to have worms with teeth removed from their mouths? Maybe it's better not to ask.

Vodafone plans its own island in Second Life

It's an increasingly blurry line between real and virtual worlds, with criminals taking advantage of online games, the ability to own and earn from a virtual replica of our world, and now the possibility of linking up your mobile and messaging.

It appears that Vodafone want to create 'Vodafone Island' in the smash virtual world of Second Life. 3pointD.com reports that "Vodafone content should start appearing on the Grid in coming months. Besides activities like sports, music, film and events that are planned for Vodafone Island, the company will also try to give SL residents new ways to interact with each other and with the real world."

I'll be honest I'm starting to get a little confused as to what's completely real, what's completely virtual, and what services float in-between. On the one hand you've got Weblo where people can buy virtual copies of places, people and domain names, and then on the other you've got Second Life with the real world Vodafone setting up an island. What's all that about?

Anyone think this it's a good idea for companies to follow us into online worlds?

(Read (via Mobile Weblog)

One Minute Interview: XBox 360 on Windows Mobile

I speak to John Starkweather at Microsoft about the future of Xbox gaming, and how it's being developed to work with Windows Mobile. Hear about gaming on the move, and beaming your gaming creds to all and sundry when you're out and about.

Opera for Nintendo DS finally hits Europe

Web browsing has computer to the DS in Europe, with the Opera browser making its debut on Nintendo's handheld.

Available in Japan since February, the browser is available in Europe for both th DS and DS Lite. It iffers split screen browsing, with one screen showing en entire web page, the other showing a zoom portion you can scroll around. The downside is a lack of support for Flash sites, the positives include handwriting recognition and an on-scren keyboard for ttyping in web addresses.

Available now as a cartridge, it retails for £30.

Nintendo website

Online gaming: Women outnumber the men

A survey by Nielsen shows that of the 117 million active gamers in the US, 56% play games online, and of those, 64% are women. Active gamers were determined as being over 13, having at least one games device, and playing at least one hour of games each week. Men outnumber women gamers overall, but not online.

The survey also looked at casual gamers, who tend to jump around from free demo to free demo without any particular loyalty, and found that they spent around £5 per month on gaming. More dedicated gamers such as those playing MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft spent around £15 per month, though a lot of that would presumably be for ongoing subscriptions. At the top of the pile came Xbox 360 owners who spent around £20 per month.

Most console owners have at least one platform for playing games - either more than one console or a console and a PC. The Playstation 2 took most market share, with 59%, followed by Xbox's of all generations at 33%. The GameCube came in at 30%.

Active game players spend around 14 hours per week on consoles and 17 hours per week on handheld gaming systems. 24% used a mobile phone for gaming. However, PCs are very popular, with 64% of active gamers using one.

Playing games is also sociable (at least virtually) with gamers spending 5 hours per week playing online with other people. Not sure how many play in the same room with other gamers.

Whilst this is a US-based survey, I wouldn't expect the figures to be vastly different, at least proportionally, in the UK.

What kind of gamer are you? Me - sad to say probably very casual (or should that be cheapskate). I rarely buy games and either go for freeware or demos.

Games console workouts for kids

Apparently, sitting in front of the TV playing games doesn't have to mean piling on the pounds - a fitness and martial arts expert has developed a work out that will keep kids fit while they are glued to a game.

The man behind it is Kevin Allen, who has set up Lazyfitness.org and devised a ten stage fitness routine kids can do, console in hand, that will improve their strength, stamina, flexibility and even burn calories. The routine can last from 10 minutes to an hour - burning up to 300 calories without ever losing control of the game.

Want to know more? Read on after the turn for 10 exercises. Or visit Lazyfitness.org for around 500 more, plus exercises for lazy adults!

1. Power Kick

Kick ass on your console with these tough kicks, which help strengthen kids’ legs and hearts fast. Start jogging on the spot and kick your heels back as high as possible while jogging. Keep going for one minute for a lower body warm up. 

2. Bling Butt

From a standing position, squat down, hold for two seconds, then rise slowly to the count of four. Repeat ten times. Tones legs, butt and lower back.

3. Big Guns

Kids shouldn’t workout with heavy weights but they can develop muscles of steel with tension exercises. Hold control pad while standing. Lightly squeeze the pad inwards with hands while tensing arm muscles hard. Reverse by lightly pushing outwards on the pad while maintaining muscle tension. Repeat regularly. Tones arms, shoulders and chest. 

4. Zap Six Pack

A six pack with no sit ups. The laziest way to strengthen the stomach is to tense the muscles and not let go. From a standing position lightly tense your stomach muscles and hold this tension while you play. Works well for any level of fitness.

5. Macho Man

A tough karate pose. Stand with your feet a shoulder width apart. Take your right leg back and bend your front leg, keeping the back leg straight. Stand still for up to 30 seconds then change legs. Fast strengthening and static stretching for legs and bums.

6.Sumo Slammer

From a standing position take your legs twice shoulder width apart and bend your legs, lowering your bum as if you were going to sit down on an invisible chair. Sit like a Sumo for 30 seconds to stretch and strengthen the legs and bum.

7. Kung Fu Crane

This stealthy Kung Fu posture develops motor skills of co-ordination and balance.  Stand on one leg and bring the other one off the floor. Turn knee of raised leg outwards and bring the foot close to knee of the standing leg like a Crane. Balance for as long as you can then change legs.

8. Wild Child

Go wild with this great heart pounding cardio workout. Start jogging on the spot slowly for a few seconds then bust into a super fast sprint on the spot for 15 seconds or so. Slow back down to a jog, before busting back into a sprint. Keep rotating between slow and fast for five minutes.

9. Karate Crunchers

Karate-style sit ups. Lie on the floor with control pad in front of you. Bend knees and slowly sit up to an angle of 30 degrees while gently tensing stomach muscles then lower back to the floor. Support your feet under a chair and couch for added support if needed. Advanced move – twist to left or right on way up. Complete 10 sit ups.

10. Lazy Legs

Lie flat on the floor, legs out straight. Lift one leg off the ground at about 45 degrees and hold it up 10 to 15 seconds or for as long as you can.  Return your foot to the floor and repeat with the opposite leg. A great exercise for the deep stomach muscles.

BBC launches Red Dwarf: Beat The Geek interactive DVD

There must be plenty of Red Dwarf fans around - it was the longest running, highest-rated show on BBC Two. And if you're pining for its return - well, that's unlikely, but you can console yourself with Red Dwarf: Beat the Geek, an interactive DVD with new footage recorded just for the game.

The idea of the game is in the name - you have the chance to test your Red Dwarf geek knowledge against another geek. Or if you're more of a casual viewer, you get to test your general knowledge. It's all hosted by Holly (played by both Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge) and is played across eight levels aboard Red Dwarf. Each level takes you to a different part of the ship for a different batch of questions, visiting major locations from the series including Starbug, the Bunk Room, Science Lab, Prison and Officers’ Quarters.

Probably a game you'll be all over on Christmas morning or you'll want to run a mile from. If you're one of the former, it's out on 23rd October, priced at £19.99.

Find out more from the BBC shop

Fancy a Wii Watch?

Bayraider has been snuffling around eBay for promotional memorabilia around Nintendo's Wii console, and it's turned up quite a few items. Take these watches, which were produced for the European press launch of the console, and look set to become the discerning gamer's timepiece of choice. Also up for grabs are promotional playing cards, t-shirts and the usual domain-name madness – fancy paying $1,000 for GoBuyWii.com and GoGetWii.com? Thought not. Anyway, all the info's here.

Also today on Bayraider: George Clooney's screen-worn Batman cape, and Britney Spears' dressing gown, worn every day during the filming of Crossroads. And hopefully washed since.

Tuesday Top Ten: YouTube videos that'll make you want a Nintendo Wii

The headline says it all, really. Nintendo's Wii console launches here in the UK on December 8th, with a price of £179. And I for one cannot wait, having slapped my pre-order in as soon as the games retailers started taking orders. But if you're still unsure, or don't have a clue what all the fuss around Wii is about, here's ten videos from YouTube that should have you reaching for your wallet.

1. The Official Trailer (Pt. 1)
A decent introduction to what Wii is all about, courtesy of Nintendo. See Japanese families sharing the fun of virtual conducting! Fall head over heels in love with the Wario game! Marvel at why the grungey guy isn't out playing a gig rather than staying in playing first-person shooters! This is the video to watch if you're completely new to Wii, or need to convince a non-gaming husband/wife/parent of its charms.

2. See why it's called Wii
Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto explains why exactly the console is called Wii, as thousands of British viewers collapse in mirth at the thought of the urine-related punning to be had once they've got one sitting in their living room.

3. Wii drumming
As someone unable to see a pair of chopsticks without recreating the solo from Led Zep's 'Moby Dick', the Wii Drumming game has got me PROPERLY excited. It's like SingStar on PS2, except for those of us who can't hold a tune, and like hitting things! In time or not.

4. Underwear attack
Okay, so Wii is being pitched as a break from console industry norms. But one thing remains the same – there's nothing like a woman in hotpants and a skimpy bra to get gamers hot under the collar about a new product. I don't know if Nintendo had anything to do with this cheeky Wii v PS3 parody of Apple's Mac v PC ads, but if they didn't think it up, they should have.

5. The overview
This one's another good video to show Wii virgins, as it provides an overview of the console feature by feature. By the end of it, you'll be as HELL YEAH enthusiastic as they are...

6. At last! Realistic fishing in video games
Okay, apart from Sega Bass Fishing on the Dreamcast. But in The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess you can fish by casting your Wiimote. Don't let your dad play on this, otherwise he'll monopolise it for hours and never let you get any further in the game. And that'd mean you miss the horseback bits...

7. Men in black show you how to play Zelda
More Zelda, which looks like being one of the most dribble-worthy launch titles for Wii (i.e. the one you'll choose if a retailer forces you to buy a 'Wii + 1 game' bundle). And who better to show you how this flagship game works than some blokes dressed in black looking sharp?

8. Bollywood Dancers love it
Check this video out. It appears to be a dubbed Bollywood-style video singing Wii's praises in typically over-the-top style. Who knows if the subtitles have just been slapped onto an old movie where they're singing about something completely different. Like PlayStation 3. EDIT - Thanks commenters for alerting me to the fact that this isn't a Bollywood video at all, it's actually a Tamil video. I'd still like to think they're singing about Wii though.

9. Geeks love it
This video's good too. It shows the stampede at this year's E3 conference when the doors opened, and hundreds of sweating mad-eyed gamers ran for the Wii stand. Don't be offended, by the way. In my household, being called a sweaty mad-eyed geek is the highest praise. And I did run for the stand one morning at E3...

10. Wii Tennis
Genius. Even when played by the people who created it on a big-screen, which is a bit embarrassing for all concerned.

Control over 250 trains with Hornby’s new Digital Command system

  Following the lead of Scalextric, another old favourite has gone digital - Hornby - with the launch of their new Digital Command Control (DCC) system, which allows up to 254 locomotives to be 'called up' and controlled individually without lots of messy wiring.

The digital system comes in two variations from October - Select and Elite. A small micro chip processor fitted into each locomotive communicates with the digital unit and responds to any instruction issued to it, such as to move forward, reverse, speed up, slow down or to turn lights on or off. The digital units also allow the user to remotely control the track’s railway points so that trains can be moved onto different sections of track at the touch of a button.

Both the Select and Elite Control units feature a keyboard used to programme or call up the locomotives and a LCD display to show which locomotive or accessories are being operated. Each unit has a rotary control which controls the acceleration and deceleration of the locomotive. The differences between the two units are the number of locomotives and track points that can be controlled. The Select controller can handle up to sixty locomotives and allow any ten of them to be ‘on command’ at any one time. The Elite controller can manage or call up to 254 locomotives on a track at any one time and allows any ten of them to be run simultaneously.

The Elite unit also contains a USB socket which can be connected to a personal computer and using the internet receive any future software download features for the Elite system. The Select system will sell for £70, while the Elite system retails for £140.

Hornby website

Gya - memory and reflex games from a meteorite

Big in Japan and threatening to be big over here this Christmas is Gya - a meteorite-shaped gadget that test your memory and your reflexes.

The story of Gya (Japanese for "scream") is typically far-fetched - "a meteorite has landed on earth pre-programmed with addictive games that push a player’s co-ordination, reflexes and memory skills to the limit". What you get is a ball featuring 10 games, each with five levels of difficulty, including memorise the flashing sequence, hunt down the matching pairs, avoid the glowing light source and uncover the hidden buttons. Complete all ten games and go head-to-head with Gya in the final showdown to become a member of the Gya elite. All sounds like an advanced version of Simon to me.

From Tomy, it's in ships now, priced around £19.99.

Find out more

Sony adds HDMI and cuts price of 20GB PS3 console

It's debatable whether Sony's 20GB PS3 will make it the UK, but if ti does, Sony has made it slightly more attractive to buyers, adding an HDMI connector and cutting the retail price - in Japan anyway.

When Sony officially launched the PS3 in May, it said only the 60GB model would ship with an HDMI 1.3 port for connection to an HD-ready TV. However, as the 20GB machine also features a Blu-ray drive, it seemed like a strange decision. Obviously, Sony has had second thoughts - so HDMI will now feature.

This and the cheaper price tag (should it make it over here) could now make it a worthwhile opton for anyone wanting to try out Blu-ray. The Japanese launch price will be 49,980 Yen, which is £226.

PlayStation 3 website

Via The Register

Blockbusters and The Price Is Right - 80s TV nostalgia goes interactive

"Come on down!" and "Can I have a P please Bob?" - two of the most annoying used lines of the 80s - as part of The Price Is Right and Blockbusters respectively. And if you're in the mood for a bit of nostalgia, you can play both again in the comfort of your own home, with the interactive DVD games from Circle.

The Price Is Right interactive DVD game follows the TV show’s format and is hosted by Joe Pasquale (obviously, contacting Leslie Crowther from the grave was asking a bit much). As in the show, you come on down to Contestants Row, win through and play some games, usually involving the price of a tin of peas or cooking oil. Get through that and it's showcase showdown time!

Blockbusters was far more serene - with a format of one swot versus two swots, with a bit of banter from Mr Hairspray, Bob Holness. Win the round and attempt the Gold Run for prizes. And that's where both games fall down. No-one goes on a quiz show (except maybe Mastermind) to show off their intellect - it's all about the prizes. You  might have a few laughs along the way, but there's bound to be disappointment when the fortnight in Jamica fails to appear.

Out for Christmas, prices to be confirmed.

Circle website

Ultra-retro Space Invaders wrapping paper

I was always a Galaga girl myself, but the mere sight of this Space Invaders themed Paper Invaders wrap was enough to give me flashbacks to my days in the Downstairs Club, listening to Big Dave Balfour and consuming endless tequila and lime until late-late-late on Sunday nights.  Your nostalgia trip mileage may vary.  $4.50 USD for a 60cm x 100cm sheet.  [GT]

Paper Invaders [via Funfurde]

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Gamextra's DS Lite Sound System

The need for a sound system for the DS Lite has never been very pressing, but with continuing rumours of MP3 functionality being added to the pocket-sized machine, there could be a good-sized market very soon for something like Gamextra's DS Lite Sound System.

The DS Lite Sound System is a lightweight detachable speaker. It slots onto the handheld without adding too much bulk and can be left in place for much the same reason. And it's coloured to match your console - unless you've got a pink one (only black and white in production so far). It can be powered by the original DS Lite power supply or by the rechargeable Li-ion battery, which is included. 

On sale in the coming weeks, priced at £19.99

Gamexpert website

Office-sized Duck Shooting Gallery

Before there was the mouse or the gaming console, there was the shooting gallery. The Duck Shooting Gallery lets you experience that small-scale, secretly, in your office, without actually having to admit you spend half the time posing sexily and whispering, "Bond, James Bond." The gun has a laser and the gallery has sensors, so it actually keeps track of how well you're doing, makes a noise when you hit something, and plays louder music as you go along. £25. [GT]

Duck Shooting Gallery

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Gamexpert launches the PSP Hi-Fi

Gamexpert has a new range of add-ons for consoles and handhelds, under the name Phase 4 - the first of which is the PSP Hi-Fi, which promises to convert Sony's handheld into a powerful home stereo system.

The PSP Hi-Fi is a stereo and docking centre for the PSP. You can listen to the music stored on your handheld through a powerful 23W RMS stereo amplifier/speaker. There's a down facing sub-woofer for "maximum bass extension "and a two-way stereo speaker system at the front. Although designed for the PSP, you can also connect other portable devices via it’s auxiliary input. And of course, it charges whilst docked and there's remote control to select your tracks.

It's available in the coming weeks, priced around £200.

Gamexpert website

Wii European launch date and price revealed

Nintendo has announced its official plans for the Wii debut Iin Europe – we’ll be getting our first shipments in time for a launch on December 8th and will be selling at £179 (249 Euros). Around 20 titles are expected to accompany the launch including Wii Play (which apparently comes packed with another Wii Remote) and Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess from Nintendo. Third party games will include RED STEEL, Need For Speed: Carbon, Tony Hawk’s Down Hill Jam, Cars and Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz.

The £179 price tag is interesting because it’s a good thirty quid higher than most of us were expecting. Nintendo did reveal yesterday that its new console will be profitable from the moment it leaves store shelves so there has been no need for the usual hardware subsidising à la Sony and Microsoft. Am I wrong to feel just a little bit bitter about that? The cynic in me also wonders if Nintendo is merely bumping the price up so that the console feels more like a premium purchase than just a poor-man’s Xbox alternative…

Pack Contents and the price of accessories on the turn.

The European pack doesn’t contain many surprises for those of you who caught the US announcement yesterday – with the Nintendo Wii you get:

• The console One Wii Remote (with strap)
• One Nunchuk attachment
• Wii Stand
• Wii Sensor Bar
• Wii Sports Game (a refreshing return for games pack-ins)

The price of accessories is as follows – it will be £29 (39 Euros) for Wii Remote and an additional £14 (19 Euros) for the Nunchuk attachment. Classic controllers are weighing in £14 as well.

This has raised some concerns across the pond because it’s going to cost you almost £90 extra to kit out the rest of your family with controllers, and more if they want all the Nunchuk action as well. But, perhaps due to the exchange rate differences and the fact we live in rip-off Britain anyway, I don’t think these prices are that unreasonable.

More on this an all the latest gaming news over at sister blog Games Digest.

Can the iPod ever be a great gaming device?

It's perhaps no surprise that Steve Jobs announced iTunes beefed-up gaming capabilities right at the start of yesterday's Showtime event. After all, being able to play Tetris and Pac-Man on your iPod is cool, but it won't cause as much of a stir as downloading movies. And in today's press coverage of the launch, the gaming angle is a footnote at best, and justifiably so.

Yet if you own an iPod – a recent fifth-generation one, anyway – and are into games, it's a pretty significant development. There are nine games available initially on the iTunes Store: Tetris, Pac-Man, Zuma, Bejeweled, Cubis 2, Vortex, Texas Hold'em, MahJong and Mini Golf. Each game costs £3.99 to buy, and once downloaded you transfer them to your iPod just as you would for music.

It's a brave new world for iPod gaming, and a huge evolution on the basic games that were previously preloaded in Apple's devices. As you'll guess from the launch titles, the iPod clearly isn't taking on PSP and DS as a fully-fledged gaming device. Yet can it even compete with mobile phones for the fingers of casual gamers?

At first impressions, Apple has certainly been doing its research. The £3.99 price point ($4.99 in the US) compares well to mobile phone games, which most of the iPod titles appear to be based on, albeit with improved graphics. Companies like EA Mobile, Namco and PopCap Games are involved, and there's an option to buy all nine games for £35.91.

Nosing around the iPod Games section on iTunes, the next thing that struck me was the size of the games. Texas Hold'em is 47.5MB in size, Mini Golf is 37.2MB, and even Tetris is 14.4MB. The version on my Nokia N70 phone is 70KB!

This could mean one of two things: either the games are bloatware, or Apple has ensured developers don't just port across basic-looking mobile games. The screenshot of Texas Hold'em (right) indicates that the latter is the case.

The iPod games section on the iTunes Store seems pretty good too. Each game has its own page, with notes on the game and any exclusive features for the iPod version. There's also a Preview button to see a rolling video of the game in action – which is more than the vast majority of mobile operators offer on their portals. So far, so good.

But. And yes, there's a but. There has to be a doubt over how well suited an iPod is to playing games, particularly with its scroll-wheel. IGN Wireless's news story on the announcement picks up on the fact that user reviews on the iTunes Store are already mentioning control issues, quoting them saying Tetris is "weird" while Pac-Man is "difficult to control".

In fairness, I can't find any comparable reviews on the UK iTunes Store, and several people mention that the controls are great. The scroll-wheel could be a hidden advantage for iPod if developers create games that play to its rotating strengths. And no, that doesn't mean endless Shot Putting sims. Apple will hopefully be nudging developers to take a leaf out of DS's book, to create games that make use of a new (for gaming) control mechanism.

As a keen mobile gamer and the owner of a battered second-generation iPod, I'm excited about Apple's new devices. Not just for the games – the battery life, brighter screens and movie downloads (when they eventually make it to the UK store) are big pulls too. I still think I'd rather play Tetris on my phone, mind, but if Apple can bring a steady flow of cool iPod games - including some original titles – that might change my mind.

Football Manager 2007, please. With my tunes playing in the background of matches. That would be marvellous. In the meantime, those of us who, ahem, have just placed an order for a brand new iPod will have to wait and see if the launch titles herald a bright new future for iPod gaming, or a short-lived novelty.

Build your own Simon game

Developed for the Maker Faire workshops by Joe Grand, this DIY (which, like many kits, you can nominally buy for your kid and then secretly assemble yourself after he or she forgets about it) lets you build your own Simon game. It comes with a pre-programmed microprocessor, a circuit board and battery - you provide your own wire cutters, solder and soldering iron. You can even set it up with options for no LED, no sound, reverse order and fast play. Assembly instructions and the game manual is printed on the back of the circuit board (here's one you won't lose, for a change). Check out the schematic for free. [GT]

Build your own Simon game

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Nintendo Wii to launch in November for £149

With the Sony PlayStation 3 now put back until March next year, pre-Christmas would be a good time for Nintendo to launch Wii here. Which they are doing - on November 24th, with a price tag of £149. And don't panic - there's plenty to go round.

That's the date leaked by MCV, one week ahead of Nintendo's offical announcement about a Euro launch, expected on Friday September 15th in Europe. The price is as expected - around £50 cheaper than the Core Xbox 360 Pack and £275 cheaper than the proposed price for the PS3.

Senior industry sources have told MCV that Wii stock availability will not be an issue in the UK, with plenty of consoles for both the November launch and the Christmas run-in.

Nintendo website

Via MCV

Sony's PS3 delay: the implications

D'oh! That just about sums up today's news that PlayStation 3 won't go on sale in Europe until March next year, rather than this November as originally planned. The news comes after repeated denials from Sony in recent months that it was struggling to meet its ambitious plans for a near-simultaneous global launch for the console.

Not an enormous shock, then, but a huge disappointment for Sony, for gamers, for developers and publishers, and for the Hollywood studios who were counting on millions of PS3 owners to buy their shiny new Blu-ray movies. So what are the implications of today's news for all these people? Read on to find out.

The obvious implication is that it's going to be a bumper Christmas for Microsoft's Xbox 360 and particularly Nintendo's Wii. All those people saving up their pennies for a PS3 will surely now be tempted to at least grab a Wii when it comes out this year, reasoning that they can easily make up the £150 by March to get a PS3 if they still want one.

Meanwhile, a four month delay might not sound like much, but it might nudge thousands of gamers who've held off buying a 360 to see how PS3 shaped up. Another obvious point is the lucrative pre-Christmas market in parents buying new consoles for their kids, who'll now face a choice between a 360 or a Wii. Admittedly, PS3's price point and target demographic may mean this is less people than you'd think.

There is an upside. The delay could mean more PS3 units available on launch day, which could reduce the frustration that's become a standard part of any new console launch. According to DigitalBattle, Europe will get around one million PS3s at launch next March, compared to 400,000 on day one in the US, and 120,000 in Japan.

How will Microsoft respond though? There's been speculation in the past that Halo 3 for Xbox 360 would come out the day before PS3's launch, although that receded with the news that the game was actually due out in 2007. What price Microsoft now pulling out all the stops to get the game out in March 2007 to steal Sony's thunder? Of course, Sony will presumably be plotting its own Triple-A titles that wouldn't have made the original launch date, but could be ready for March.

As for games publishers, there'll surely be some green faces in boardrooms around Europe, depending on how much revenue they'd budgeted to come from PS3 pre-Christmas. Take a look at the red numbers on GamesIndustry.biz's Share Watch page to see what it could mean for share prices. All the big publishers have titles coming out for PS3's launch.

A side-issue is what the PS3 delay means for Sony's game download service for the PSP. Pocket Gamer suggests that the PSP download service is intended to launch alongside PS3, so will it also be delayed to March? It can work with a broadband-enabled PC, so you'd hope not.

However, attention is already turning to what the PS3 delay means for Blu-ray. After all, the console was seen as Sony's secret weapon in the Blu-ray versus HD-DVD war, capable of putting the former technology into millions of homes fairly quickly. Standalone Blu-ray players are on the way from several manufacturers, so it's not as if this single piece of news means Blu-ray is The New Betamax.

But if Sony is having problems sourcing enough blue laser diodes - the stated reason for the PS3 delay - then what does it mean for the other Blu-ray manufacturers? Of course, the same diodes are used for HD-DVD players, so it's not an advantage on that front. But does it also mean a delay for Sony's first standalone Blu-ray player? Questions, questions.

Meanwhile, the likes of Warner, Paramount and Fox have all been announcing their initial Blu-ray titles - click here and here for the ones we heard about at IFA last week. Who's going to buy them in Europe? You have to wonder whether there are enough Mission Impossible 3 and Kingdom Of Heaven fans in the US and Japan to cope with the overspill.

But ultimately, the biggest problem of the PS3 delay is one of perception. It's not so long since Nintendo was the company routinely slated by European gamers for seemingly ignoring us. Now everybody loves Nintendo, but Sony is already copping flak from angry gamers who feel short-changed by the fact that PS3 is still coming out in November in the US and Japan.

Just check the comments on our original story:

"Oh brilliant, Sony love screwing Europe we're already going to have a ridiculous conversion rate on the console so that we'll be paying more than either the Japanese or Americans but now we can't even have it at the same time."

It's early days, and the PS3 isn't going to be a big fat flop simply because of a four-month delay. Sony diehards will still buy it, and its powerful home entertainment functions are still going to tempt a lot of non-gamers to invest their cash in one. But that doesn't stop the news from being a big blow to Sony both in financial and credibility terms.

PS3 delayed, expected March

Sony has some more bad news for European PlayStation fans – the PS3 is not going to make its November 17th release date and will instead only be reaching shelves in March 2007. The reason for this is due to a shortage of essential blue laser diodes needed to manufacture both Blu-ray and HD DVD players. The PS3 is of course banking heavily on its integrated Blu-ray player and High Definition capabilities.

Launch dates for Japan and North America will remain the same, which are November 11th and November 17th respectively.

In spite of this delay Sony remains confident of its target to ship six million units by the end of 2007, but missing the Xmas market in Europe is going to be another sore blow for the PS3 and a another victory for the Xbox 360.

Sony launches official Playstation 3 website

Sony PS3 web siteSony has launched its official European PS3 website containing full specifications for both 20Gb and 60Gb models and the wireless controller, game previews and video clips in both standard and high-definition format. It features the slogan "This is Living" and forms another part of Sony's marketing plan as it heralds 'the most anticipated product launch of 2006'.

It's quite a bandwidth-intensive site and even on a reasonably fast broadband connection I found it took some time to move between scenes and sections of the site, but maybe I just picked a bad time to surf.

Despite this, there's some interesting information and previews available on the site.

Cristiano Ronaldo faces the flesh-sucking undead hordes

No, I'm not being extremely rude about Manchester It-Girls. Winking winger Cristiano is the star of what could be the barmiest mobile game ever invented. Cristiano Ronaldo Underworld Football has the star playing against a motley collection of skeletons, ogres, ice trolls and succubi. Sounds like a night out on the town with the England WAGs.

"The Portuguese winger must remain immune to their special powers and overall disregard for fair-play," says the press release, which will have Wayne Rooney raising an eyebrow. The game should be out before Christmas, unless it's a crafty joke by Portugese developer Ydreams.

(via Pocket Gamer)

Plug and play Atari console keyrings

Once, in the dim and distant days of childhood, a large console unit, sizeable controllers and plenty of wiring was needed to play your Atari favourites on the TV. Now you can take them with you on a keyring with the Atari Video Game Keychains.

Yes, miniaturisation has given a new lease of life to several Atari retro classics. Take your pick from Pong, Asteroids or Centipede. In fact, you get more than that - with Pong comes Breakout and Warlords, while Asteroids also features Millipede and Centipede comes with Yar's Revenge.

Unfortunately, there's no getting away from the wires - you get a 6ft cable (so now it's not so portable) and you'll need 3 x AA batteries to use it. They're available now in the US, priced around $15.

Find out more

Via Uber Review

More gaming:
Pink DS Lite coming to Europe
PS3 spare power could be used for medical research

IFA 2006: More Philips amBX details

It looks like Philips’ amBX vision for gamers doesn’t solely consist of an Ambilight monitor. Instead, a whole range of accessories will be launching over the course of next year aimed at extending the immersive aspects of gaming. Philips explains that this will consist of the following:

• A series of LED based multi-colour lights that engage the eyes and increase realism

• A powerful 2.1 speaker sound system providing booming audio that gives authenticity to the rumble of thunder or the blast of a gunshot

• Several fans that bathe gamers in air movement and wind effects

• A vibration unit that conveys the action and excitement completely in sync with the game situation

Ambilight technology is still the real selling point here; vibration functions have been around for a while (and in the case of Sony, they’ve gone again). I can’t say I’m too sold on the idea of fans blowing at me while I’m gaming – I think my PC produces quite enough fan noise and heat already.

The first game to get the amBX treatment will be Broken Sword: Angel of Death form THQ. Philips has been working closely with THQ to provide the resources and technology to develop the game alongside the new technology.

Philips website

One Minute IFA Preview: Philips Entertaible

Here's a quick glance at the Philips Entertaible - a touch screen gaming table it hopes will be in a pub near you some time soon. You can find the details here.

One Minute IFA Update: Philips Blu-Ray players and recorders

Ashley looks at Philips Blu-ray DVD players/recorders - the Media Center PC, the MCP9480i, and the  Blu-ray player - the BDP9000. For more info, check this link.

IFA 2006: Philips introduces AmBx - Ambilight for gamers

Having sold nearly a million Ambilight TVs Philips is now rolling the facility out into the games arena with the launch of a 20inch display that boasts AmBX, aka Ambilight for smaller PC screens. AmBX works in a similar way to Ambilight in that it use ambient light delivered from around the screen to heighten the overall impact of the picture. The first game for the PC to feature dedicated Ambilight effects (ie to enhance explosions etc) will be Broken Sword 4. There's a demo on the stand, so I'll grab some video footage of the feature later.

PS3 spare power could be used for medical research

We've reported before about the power of distributed computing networks all contributing processor time that would otherwise be idle in order to work on large-scale calculations in medical and mathematical projects.

Well, Sony has teamed up with US biologists to offer a feature whereby users can contribute their PS3's spare computing power to a project at folding@home (FAH).

10,000 machines joined together would allow up to a thousand trillion calculations per second.

Whilst the PS3 has been designed for advanced gaming, it sounds as if the combination of its fast CPU and graphics chip will allow real-time medical viewing as well, through software being specially developed.

According to the BBC website:

When the program is released to PS3 owners, the scientists say they will be able to "address questions previously considered impossible to tackle computationally".

So, when you get your hands on a PS3 and you feel like doing something more useful than shooting and killing things, this might be the project for you.

(Via BBC)

TurboFragPad glows up a storm

Custom mouse pads with pictures of the wife and kids under laminate are so 20th century, aren't they? Try on the TurboFragPad for size. Transparent glass with your choice of 6 cold cathode TurboLightMat colors, you can have your own design etched into the surface so it's uniquely you and ultra-modern. Total price is unclear but the TurboLightMat plus a non-customized glass pad goes for $48 USD. Despite being glass, GameApex says it works perfectly as a low-friction pad with optical mice. [GT]

TurboFragPad [via Gizmodo

Related stories: A mousepad - of sorts | Speaker in a mouse pad | Intelligent writing pad

Microsoft to resurrect classic IntelliMouse Explorer

Microsoft have said that they will reintroduce the IntelliMouse Explorer mouse with some added features.

Apparently (not being a hardened gamer I didn't know this) the mouse is revered amongst gamers. It's coming back in October, featuring running speed of 9000 fps, toggling between default and precision modes, and weapons switching.

Microsoft Hardware's Bill Jukes said "People were literally carrying around their IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0s in protective glass cases, and rightly so. There isn't a mouse on the market that can beat this design for comfortable play and precision for low-sensitivity first-person shooter games,"

I'm not sure carrying round computer equipment in glass cases is such a good idea, but I get his point.

What do you reckon. Is the IntelliMouse that great?

Microsoft Flight Simulator X Demo Now Available

The latest episode in the long-running Flight Simulator series has been cleared for takeoff in late October but if you just can’t wait to get your hands on FS 10 you can download the free trial version.

The Flight Simulator X demo includes 3 different types of aircraft, 2 airports and 3 missions, from St Maaten airport in the Caribbean. In Mission 1, for novices you get to fly a de Havilland Beaver DHC2 float plane. Mission 2 puts you behind the controls of a microlight and the idea is to ‘bomb’ targets with bags of flour and in Mission 3 you have to take off and land a Bombardier CRJ700 at a busy airport, monitor air traffic control and avoid the other planes in your airspace.

The download is a hefty 636Mb but it’s well worth the effort to see the stunning detail and scenery, and if you know anything about flying, the realism and skill needed to fly these birds.

Classic Game Focus: Paradroid

Forget robots taking over the world: in 1985 they were perfectly content with just taking over each other. This, at least, is the message from the classic C64 game Paradroid, which combined top-down wandering with a mini-game that gave you an advanced course in robo-micro-electronics. You had to run around a ship shooting or taking over other droids, while logging into computer decks to figure out where to go next.

Five reasons to love it:

1. It was written by one man, Andrew Braybrook, in the days when you didn't need a small country's worth of coders and artists to make a game. His other games weren't half bad either: Uridium, Morpheus and Gribbly's Day Out.

2. As a youngster playing Paradroid, frankly the circuit-diagram mini-game - which you used to take over other droids - made no sense at all. I just hammered the joystick and hoped it'd work, which it usually didn't. It's only now that you realise what a corking idea it was, complete with logic gates to help your weedy low-level droid take over much scarier foes.

3. The game features a variety of droids, and you might recognise the No. 883 security droid (right) - Braybrook snuck in a cheeky dalek in the days before you'd have 17 lawyers suing your arse for such copyright-infringing silliness.

4. Like many games in the 8-bit era, Paradroid didn't actually end. You just went back to the start of the ship with harder droids to beat up. It's thought that at least one expert player is still bashing away at the  game he started in January 1986...

5. Yes, someone has tried to update Paradroid for the modern era. Check Project Paradroid for a version which keeps the spirit of the original, while tarting up the graphics nicely.

FIND OUT MORE
Wikipedia entry
Andrew Braybrook's development diary, published in Zzap 64 magazine
Paradroid shrine

Tokyo game show to boast 27 playable PS3 games

Sony seems hell bent on putting the name ‘PS3’ on everyone’s lips at this year’s Tokyo Game Show. The console manufacturer didn’t get a great response from its E3 efforts but it looks like it will be making up for that by putting 27 playable PlayStation 3 games on display. There’s a more complete list over at Games Digest, but highlights include: Ridge Racer 7, Gran Turismo, Heavenly Sword and Devil May Cry 4.

The PSP is also having a good outing with the new GPS and camera add-ons going on display. Playable and downloadable demos of 16 new titles, including 4 GPS compatible games, will be at the show and attendees will be able to save their favourite demos to their PSP’s Memory Sticks.

Loads more gaming news over at our siter-site Games Digest.

Pink DS Lite coming to Europe

We’re having a bit of a pink console overload this week as Nintendo has now announced that the pink version of the DS Lite is arriving in Europe in October. One of those with match your P!nk PSP and pink PS2 quite nicely – I wonder whether Xbox is going to hop on the pink bandwagon?

Nintendo’s DS Lite has enjoyed an astonishing success over the last few months adding significantly to the five million DS units sold in Europe. New titles aimed at expanding the games market have also met with phenomenal success. The most famous example is Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How old is your brain? which has been met with high praise from the critics, including an Edge award at EIEF, and is still selling fast.

The Pink DS Lite will be available from the 27th October 2006 and should sell for around £100.

EIEF 2006

The Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival wrapped up on Tuesday evening after two days of thought provoking discussions of important topics affecting the games industry right now. Unlike the more famous games conferences, such as the now defunct E3, TGS and GDC, EIEF felt a little more relaxed and ponderous. And taking place in the Royal College of Surgeons it felt a bit like going back to Uni.

Day one kicked off with David Gardner, executive vice president and chief operating officer of worldwide studios for Electronic Arts, making seven predictions for the games industry before being cut off mid punchline by an ill timed fire alarm.

When we eventually got going again, Gardner shared some interesting opinions and revealed how innovations in upcoming EA games will be try to keep up with the demands of the ever growing market. Integration of real-time news feeds, interviews and opinions into at least two major EA titles (NBA Live 07 and FIFA 07) is aimed at appealing to the modern ‘multitasker’ who prefers to flit between active entertainment  sources (YouTube being an example) rather than passively lounging in front of the goggle box.

The elusive female market, which so many publishes have tried in vain to capture, still seems to be a mystery, even to EA. Gardner acknowledged that girl gamers absolutely don’t want so-called pink games, but the failed attempt to expand the popular Sims game into an online environment seems like it might have stumped the dominating publisher.

Later on, industry analyst, Nick Parker, gave a bit of a light hearted speech which demonstrated some of the misconceptions about the games industry and explored where it could be heading in the next few years. He observed that Nintendo is becoming a ‘lifestyle brand’ – there’s certainly a hint of lifestyle design going on in the DS Lite.

Talking about the next-gen console war Parker observed that there was room enough in the market for all three console manufacturers and that wasn’t any need to try and pick a winner. Regarding the PS3, he sees it as a slow burner and that its crucial time will come around next Easter. When was Halo 3 due out again..?

Edge’s Margaret Robsertson discussed games that make her cry and how to make games emotional. This is because of ongoing argument that ‘videogames can not be art because they can not make you cry’. Robertson, whilst picking out several tiles that had made her cry, observed that the argument is wrong because games can cause real emotion in players and that a game can use common tricks to elicit these emotions. Instead, it is the players who invest an emotional response which is different to that found in any other media. This is crucial difference is what could someday distinguish videogames as a higher form of art.

More on EIEF 2006 over at Games Digest. 

Yay or Nay: Logitech ChillStream

This week's Yay or Nay is the Logitech ChillStream controller that's designed to keep gamers sweaty hands cool whilst they're engaged in serious PC gaming action.

Logitech's exclusive ChillStream technology has a built-in 40mm fan that pushes up to 3.41 cubic feet of air every minute through narrow vents to the four fingers, base of the thumb, and the palm of the hand. There are three settings: high, low and off.

It's plug-and-play, full-speed USB, and works with Windows XP and Vista. The fan is supposed to be very quiet, so that you only know it's on because you can feel it.

It'll be available from September, US price $39.99. Not sure if it will be available in the UK yet.

Good idea? Yay or Nay? Have your say in the comments.

Stuart's Wednesday Rant: beached mobile game brands

The coolest new mobile phone game this week? It features a bunch of strangers washed up on a desert island, who have to survive long enough to escape. There's mysterious doings afoot though, some dangerous wildlife, and at least one person in the group aren't what they seem...

Great! Someone's done a mobile game based on Lost! But they haven't. Instead, this is a game called Stranded (left), which is heavily inspired by the Channel 4 series, even if its creators Glu Mobile reckon they were thinking more of Robinson Crusoe when they made it.

But here's the confusing thing: rival publisher Gameloft has just signed up the rights to make an official Lost mobile game, which'll be out early next year. So shouldn't mobile gamers wait for the real deal rather than play the imitation? I'm not so sure.

You can't compare the two on quality yet. Stranded is ace: a truly immersive adventure with a healthy dash of Animal Crossing-style fishing'n'farming. You should buy it. But Gameloft hasn't even announced what its Lost game will be like, let alone released any screenshots. So it's too early to tell which is best.

But it's in situations like this where I wonder if the branded game - Lost in this instance - isn't at a disadvantage when faced by unofficial competition. Glu was effectively free to make up its own storyline for Stranded, creating characters, a plot and throwing in jokes without having to get them approved by a brand-owner.

Will the same be true of Lost? Possibly not. Gameloft make marvellous mobile games, but creatively speaking, titles based on TV shows and films can be constrained by the need to follow a plot that viewers will already be familiar with.

It can be done: Gameloft just released a mobile game based on The O.C. which uses the same characters, but doesn't follow any episode (right). Meanwhile another publisher, I-play, did an official 24 game which used the basic concept behind the series to string together a series of spy-themed mini-games.

From an industry point of view, signing up these TV and film brands makes sense, as the mobile operators – who still sell the lion's share of  mobile games – prefer to take brands.

But from a gamer's point of view, I'd rather see games publishers ploughing their money into graphics, gameplay and storyline, rather than into licensing deals.

That's not to suggest that Gameloft won't do both with Lost, of course, but having run down my phone battery several times playing Stranded on the train recently just to find out what happened next, I'd hope fans of the show don't think they have to wait until 2007 to get some decent desert-island action on their mobiles.

Tuesday Top Ten: Sexist video games. Or are they?

Tsk, another media article moaning about Lara Croft and other balloon-breasted game heroines. It's not as if they're turning the nation's men into a race of mole-eyed stalkers, is it? Don't answer that. The fact is there are plenty of mobile games with a less-than-new-manly attitude towards women, whether it's presenting them as pumped-up thong-wearing porn stars, defenceless weaklings who need A Man to save them, or just really really dull.

With that in mind, check out this list of ten games that have caused controversy for their depiction of women. It's not an exhaustive list - there's only so many Japanese dating games you can fit in after all, and I've erased from my memory a stream of 8-bit Strip Poker games that were big (among schoolboys) back in the 1980s.

1. Leisure Suit Larry
Somehow, Larry's still going strong, despite all his peers (i.e. Benny Hill) falling by the wayside. According to publisher Vivendi, the LSL games have made more than $70 million collectively since the first one came out in 1987. Not bad for a cartoon lech who spends his time running after women (and catching them far more often than is realistic unless you're the multimillionaire Hugh Hefner). Even today, Larry's still plying his chat-up lines on mobile, including an upcoming beach volleyball game where he has to massage the female stars of his team. Obviously.

2. Dead Or Alive
Maybe it's harsh to pick on one beat'em up when pretty much 98% of them feature at least one female character in a teeny-weeny bikini and heels. But what the hell. "She'll catch her death of cold in that," say mothers around the world when they catch their kids playing it. "And besides, it's physically impossible for any women to do that spinning kickflip with those breasts."  Soon to become a movie whose main attraction appears to be Holly Valance beating people up naked.

3. Sexy Babes Wild Waterslides
Does the mobile games industry have a problem getting women to buy mobile games? I can't imagine why, with games like this. Best summarised as: bikini-clad women slide down flumes, while you spray them with as much water as possible, and then take photographs of them. If you're skilled, their top might've fallen off. Inevitably is being promoted with the use of real Page 3 girls, who if you tried this sort of thing in the real world would call the cops pronto.

4. Target: Pheromone
The usual 'cultural differences' disclaimer applies, but really, helping a foxy witch get back to her own dimension by, er, seducing lots of women? A worrying proportion of whom appear to be looking really miserable while you do it? And one 18-year-old character who, according to the game's makers, "may look younger than she actually is, but she's still very popular among her customers". She runs a bakery, by the way, the game's not THAT sexist.

5. Donkey Kong
Why can't it be the beautiful girl jumping over barrels to rescue the paunchy plumber, instead of the other way around, hmm? Answers on a 10,000-word sociology dissertation, please.

6. Wild Summer
This game isn't even out yet, but wins inclusion on the basis of its promo artwork alone, which we spied at E3 this year. It shows a college jock legging it down the street clutching a pair of knickers, while the full game promises all manner of naughty japes and jokes. In other words, it's Leisure Suit Larry for the MySpace generation.

7. Duke Nukem 3D
I'll be lazy with this one and let someone else do the hard work. "Is there a sexist undertone to Duke's comments, appearance, killing of women, or love of XXX theaters and strip joints?" writes Stephanie Bergman in this article. I think that's hit the nail on the head, to be honest. And don't forget the industry excitement that surrounded the "gritty realism" of those strip joints when they first appeared in the game.

8. Night Trip
Also famous for being one of the worst games ever made, in the era of FMV (basically shoehorn as much badly-acted video clips into games as you could, and watch the profits roll in. Or not.) On the face of it, Night Trip was quite a chivalrous game. After all, you were saving a house-full of nubile young women from some murderous intruders. Er.. except this also meant spying on said women on security cameras. After all, that pillow fight might be unnecessary to watch, but what if a baddie turns up...

9. Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes
You wouldn't think there was anything wrong with a real-time strategy game featuring elves in metal bikinis, would you? After all, they're fictional creatures, who are we to say they don't wear that sort of thing all the time, in an empowered way? Yes. This writer isn't so sure though. "Even if they are some sort of alien infernal elves, how exactly would they be able to do anything with that massive sword in an outfit that shouldn't be worn anyplace outside of the bedroom? Why would anyone wearing elaborate shoulder armour with spikes and finials wear nothing but a thong on the bottom?"

10. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Yes, alright, a game that gives you the option to get jiggy with a prostitute in the back of your car and then beat her to death with a baseball bat to avoid paying may not be intrinsically sexist. After all, it's up to you, so it's YOU who's sexist, punk! Yeah.

PlayStation 2 price drops below £100

With the pink PlayStation 2 probably not being everyone's cup of tea and the PlayStation 3 likely to give new meaning to the word scarce this Christmas, there might yet be some life left in the standard PlayStation 2. Even more so with the news that Sony is dropping the price - going below the £100 mark for the first time to £94.99.

Apparently, it's not a last ditch attempt to make some money out of the PS2 market. The company claims the fall is possible due to "ignificant advances in manufacturing efficiency and economies of scale", which means Sony is making them for less and it's passing on that saving to us. Which is nice. The company has also announced that the price of 8MB Memory Cards will also fall, with detail of this due to follow.

Plenty of new titles are due to appear for the PS2 this Christmas, over 150, according to Sony, including SingStar Legends, EyeToy: Kinetic Combat, Buzz! Junior: Jungle Party and Buzz! The Sports Quiz.

Sony website

More gaming:
Grab yourself a pink Sony PlayStation 2
Sony introduces the Pink PSP with added Pink

London Games Festival coming in October

The first week of October sees the first London Games Festival hit the city, with a mix of public and industry events scattered around the capital.

The events are ticketed, but most are free, and the week runs from 2-7 October.

The web site features a complete list of events, including Games Showcases at HMV in Oxford Street, Family Game Show at John Lewis on Oxford Street, a London Game Career Fair at the Café Royal, Cinema Showdown at Vue Cinemas, and Festival Fringe at 01Zero-One.

The Games Showcases at HMV 'will bring together well known figures from the world of video games (and the real world too!) throughout the week. The week will kick off with celebrities competing against each other in a series of high profile tournaments, with the winners crowned the kings of the gaming world.' whilst the Career Fair 'provides the opportunity for game industry professionals, recent graduates and individuals from related industries, such as computer graphics, animation and film, to speak with leading companies in the game industry about career opportunities.'  Nice work if you can get it.

Sounds like a great gaming week.

Sony introduces the Pink PSP with added Pink

Not content with introducing the pink PlayStation 2 earlier today, Sony has now added a P!nk PSP (no, the ! is not a typo) handheld to its range of coloured consoles.

This time it's a tie-in with - you guessed it - P!nk, with a limited edition Value Pack offering an exclusive Pink UMD video (yes, they're still making them) featuring her latest music videos - Stupid Girls, Who Knew and U + Ur Hand, along with an exclusive interview with the artist, as well as an exclusive track ‘Crash and Burn’, not available on any P!nk album in the UK and exclusive P!nk downloads.

You'll also get some white headphones (maybe the pink colouring didn't stretch), a pouch, wrist strap and 32MB Memory Stick Duo. It's available from 27th October from selected retailers, priced at £169.99.

Sony website

Grab yourself a pink Sony PlayStation 2

Pink seems to be the new black. There's a glut of pink gadgets hitting the market right now, from the pink DS Lite to the pink notebook (not to mention a number of mobile handsets). So it's no surprise to see Sony getting in on the act with the launch of a pink PlayStation 2.

The limited-edition pink PS2 doesn't bring anything new to the party in terms of functionality, but it's certainly an eye-catcher, with not just the console getting a makeover, but the DualShock controllers and the included 8MB memory card too. There's also a copy of SingStar Popworld thrown in.

It's due to be shown off at this week's Leipzig Games Convention and in the shops from 8th November, priced at £129.99.

Sony website

More pink gadgets:
Nintendo DS Lite gets a pink makeover
Intempo Digital's Buddy puts sat nav in the pink

Review: Alienware Aurora m9700

The Aurora m9700 is  Alienware’s first 17” SLI notebook. Armed with a 64 bit AMD Turion CPU and up to 2GB of RAM this laptop will handle all but the most intense of modern gaming graphics without batting an eyelid. But, you guessed it, there’s a cost – the m9700 is one hefty beast weighing in at over 3.90kg and with dimensions of 4.70 x 39.75 x 29.85 cm. Not the kind of thing you’re going to carry to work or whip out for quick play on the train too often.

However, a decent selection of video inputs and outputs, as well as a optical and 5.1 speaker outputs make this notebook into a pretty decent desktop alternative. No it isn’t an ultra-portable but it’s hell of a lot easier to take this round to a friends house for a bit multiplayer gaming than it is to rip apart your desktop and stick that in the car, trust me.

The Alienware Aurora m9700 is available now starting from a  pretty reasonable £1,200 - check out GadgetCentre for the full review.

More details on the Xbox 360 camera

More details have emerged about the Xbox Live Vision Camera at Microsoft’s Gamefest taking place in Seattle this week. The Live Vision camera for the Xbox 360 is going to allow for live video chat across Xbox Live and will be the basis of several new ‘gesture-based’ games for the 360. It has been announced that TotemBall is going to ship with the camera when it is released, probably in September.

To those who have never tried out the PlayStation 2’s EyeToy, the Xbox Live Vision Camera works in a pretty similar way by recognising your movements and translating them into onscreen actions. Generally, this often dissolves into frantic arm flapping after about five minutes, much to the peril of your living room furniture.

The Live Vision camera will also be compatible with some Xbox Live arcade games including World Series Poker, which is set to allow video chat during play. Details of its other uses in Xbox Live, such as with your GamerTag, remain pretty thin on the ground and my guess is that Microsoft is still tackling the issue of how to make sure your pics remain suitable for younger players.

via Gamasutra

For more gaming news, check out sister-blog Games Digest.

Microsoft warns online gamers of potential security risks

Those well-renowned security-conscious bods at Microsoft have been warning online gamers about the potential threat of online crime - and we're not talking virtual crime here.

Games like "World of Warcraft" are massively popular, and devoted gamers will invest real money into creating and sustaining their characters. Fraudsters are literally cashing in on this, by introducing malware into the game code, stealing players' account information, and then selling off virtual gold, weapons, equipment and other items.

hose of you who are working on massively multiplayer online games, organized crime is already looking at you," said Dave Weinstein, a Microsoft security development engineer, at the company's Gamefest video game development conference.

Apparently game accounts are already being sold online alongside the usual array of stolen credit card details, fake passports, work papers and other illegal gains.

It's a thought that takes a little getting used to - real crime in a virtual workd - but it is real, and it's yet another avenue the criminal will look to exploit. Keep your virtual wallet nice 'n' safe, eh?

Xbox 360's HD-DVD drive to retail for $200?

Although there's still no official price announcement for the Xbox 360's HD-DVD add-on, one technology claims it knows - and the price will be $200.

The claim has been made by Taiwanese news site DigiTimes.com. And if correct, it should be the cheapest way to get a foothold into the high-definition movie market. $200 equates to £106. You can pick up a basic Xbox 360 from Amazon for £210 - that's £316 for HD-DVD. That is, of course, if the price for the UK is similar to the quoted US price. The site also claims that the drive should be available in time to do battle with Sony's PlayStations 3 for Christmas.

There has been much speculation over the price of the drive since Microsoft showed it off North America DVD Forum Conference and after a spokesman for the company said it would be "the cheapest HD DVD player on the market for consumers who already own an Xbox 360 console".

We'll let you know more as as soon as it happens.

Microsoft website

Via DigiTimes.com

More gaming:
Microsoft to offer Xbox 360 programming tools to the masses
Nintendo announces Euro launch date and price for DS Lite Opera web browser

Microsoft to offer Xbox 360 programming tools to the masses

Yes, budding games creators, you too will soon be able to create your own games for the Xbox 360 console - at least that's what Microsoft will make slightly more of a reality by releasing its XNA Game Studio Express for Windows XP in December. A beta release is coming out on 30th August. The kit will also allow Windows XP games to be created.

A downside to this is that users will need to pay a $99-per-year fee to Microsoft to join the XNA User Group in order to test their games on an Xbox.

It won't be the only software you'll need to create top-notch (or even vaguely good) games as it's just a tool for piecing together audio, graphics and code into something that's actually playable. It's not going to be as easy as those halcyon days on your 8-bit machine, typing in listings from a magazine (I can't believe I actually fell for that one) - but Microsoft are perhaps aiming it at lower-end games producers who can then release cheaper shareware titles for the console.

What do you think? Is this a good idea or will we be deluged with cheap but mediocre titles?

(Via Reg Hardware)

Want to star in a console beat 'em up? Try eBay...

Fancy yourself as a potential Mario? Console developer Classified Productions is auctioning off the right to appear in its beat 'em up Battle Of The Gods, which is being developed for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. According to Bayraider, the winning bidder will be the first thing gamers see in one of the game's levels.

However, when some other game developers are offering this sort of thing for free - see Sports Interactive's 'Face In The Game' competition for the next Football Manager game - you have to wonder who'd pay $4,500 for the privilege of appearing in a game that's still being developed, even if it does appear to star Jesus as a playable character (left).

Retro Sega gaming for PS2/PSP

Were you a fan of the Sega Megadrive, then upgrad