The poor economic conditions have created a very different and difficult dynamic for us this year, and we weren't confident that we could present a show experience that was consistent with the successes of prior years.

He goes on to say they're optimistic the show can return in 2009, but we're not doing anything drastic like holding our breath.

Bad economy kills this year's DigitalLife Expo [Cnet]

G4 said it's the first outing for its programming on a gaming console. Incidentally, G4 also said it's the "multi-media destination that feeds young guy’s addiction for the latest technology, web culture, animation and video games." So, young guys, are you addicted?

...Full release follows the jump.

Los Angeles, CA, May 27, 2008 – G4, the multi-media destination that feeds young guy’s addiction for the latest technology, web culture, animation and video games, announced today that the network has teamed up with Microsoft to offer a selection of its popular series on Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. Shows available for download immediately are animated comedy series “Code Monkeys,” including a free sneak preview of season two, snowboarder reality series “The Block” and a special weekly episode of “Attack of the Show.” The agreement marks the first time that G4’s content has been made available for download on a gaming console.

“G4 is a natural fit to be part of the Xbox LIVE community. Our young male audience spends more time interfacing with technology than any other network,” said Neal Tiles, President, G4. “This partnership underscores G4’s commitment to bringing relevant and authentic content to young guys in more ways than ever before.”

“G4 is one of the industry leaders for gaming and entertainment content and we are thrilled to offer its shows on the Xbox LIVE Video Store,” said Ross Honey, senior director of the media and entertainment group, Microsoft. “We’re sure the Xbox LIVE community is going to jump at the chance to download G4 shows, especially the never before seen free episode of Code Monkeys.”

Episodes from the following G4 series are available for download now at the Xbox LIVE Video Store:

“Code Monkeys” – G4’s hit animated comedy of 8-bit proportions centers around GameAvision, a 1980’s videogame company, and the misadventures of its staff whose crazy antics ascend any of their own video creations. Creator Adam de la Peña (“The Man Show,” “Crank Yankers”) sends the rowdy staff on side-splitting adventures that parody the golden age of videogames, including cameos of industry icons who help them along the way. Season two of “Code Monkey” debuts June 1 on G4 but a new episode is available for download now at the Xbox LIVE Video Store.

“The Block” – This reality series, currently in its second season, gives viewers a free lift ticket inside the world of hard-core snowboarders. The series is filmed at the world’s only hotels run by and for snowboarders and offers a candid look at the insanity of “The Block,” where the action behind the front desk is only topped by what happens on the slopes. It’s up to the hotel’s owners, pro-snowboarding icon Marc Frank Montoya and hotel entrepreneur Liko Smith, to balance the company and the craziness to make sure guests live in true rock-star style. Season one of the series takes place in Lake Tahoe and season two goes to the hotel’s branch in Big Bear, CA.

“Attack of the Show” – G4 brings viewers an irreverent interactive daily live trip to the digital water cooler with reports on the latest hot topics and breaking news, including non-mainstream guests and in-depth coverage of events such as CES, E3, GDC, SXSW and Comic-Con. Hosted by Kevin Pereira and Olivia Munn, “Attack of the Show” takes viewers inside, underneath, around and behind tech, games, Internet culture, comic books, sports, gadgets and more. A special weekly episode, created exclusively for Xbox users, will be made available for download each week.

While a tinier PS3 would be maybe attractive to some—the thing currently weighs in at a bulky 11 pounds—the arrival of such a revision this early makes almost no sense. The PlayStation took almost six years before it was given such a redesign and the PlayStation 2 trimmed down a good four years after its launch, both after reaching massive install base figures. To introduce new manufacturing processes 18 months in, while components are still being cost reduced to edge hardware closer to profitability, seems counterproductive to bleeding money on the thing.

In other words, we're not buying it.

A Sony source tells us they've never heard of it and while that doesn't mean it doesn't exist, it seems unlikely. At least for now.

New Playstation 3 this autumn? [T3]

Nyko expects to ship the thing in February, carrying with it a $19.99 price tag. Press release, if you want it, after this.

Nyko Announces Cord-Free Wireless Adapter For Wii Nunchuk

New Adapter Offers Wireless Convenience for Wii Nunchuk Owners

LOS ANGELES - January 29, 2008 - Nyko Technologies ®, a premier peripherals manufacturer, today announced that they will release the Cord-Free wireless adapter for the Wii Nunchuk this February.

While the highly anticipated award winning Wireless Nunchuck for Wii is a brand-new standalone product, the Cord-Free wireless adapter for Wii Nunchuk differentiates from its sibling by converting your standard wired Nunchuk into a wireless peripheral. The adapter adds a convenient self-standing sleeve for the wired Nunchuk and a wireless signal dongle to the bottom of your Wii Remote. A small dongle provides lag-free wireless connection between your Wii Remote and Nunchuk and adds up to 15 feet of wireless range. The self-standing Nunchuk sleeve features a convenient compact cord management system keeping the existing Nunchuk cord organized and out of site. The Cord-Free wireless adapter for the Wii Nunchuk runs on two AAA batteries (included) and provides up to 60 hours of continuous gameplay.

"Nyko is dedicated to providing outstanding wireless solutions for Wii gamers," said Chris Arbogast, Marketing Director at Nyko Technologies. "We want to provide multiple options for those looking to untangle their Wii experience."

Nyko's Cord-Free wireless adapter for the Wii Nunchuk will be available at retailers nationwide for a suggested retail price of $19.99.

About Nyko Technologies, Inc.

Nyko Technologies ® develops, manufactures and markets innovative peripherals to enhance the digital lifestyle. The company's mission is to deliver products that solve problems and improve user experience for work and play. Nyko specializes in interactive entertainment, computing, consumer electronics, portable audio, as well as online and wireless technologies. The company has distribution through major U.S. and Canadian retailers, along with distributors worldwide. Founded in 1995, Nyko is headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Please go to www.nyko.com or call 1-888-444-6956 for more information.

Available now, at the more budget-minded price are MTV staples Beavis & Butt-head: The Mike Judge Collection (Vol. 2 and 3), Jackass (Vol. 2 and 3), Wildboyz (Vol. 1 and 2), Viva La Bam (Vol. 2, 3, and 4) and Aeon Flux: The Complete Animated Collection (2-disc set). Leave your brain and your big bills at the door!

MTV Hits PSP This Week [PlayStation.blog]

Do I like nerds? I am a nerd. I have shelves full of books at home about vampires and werewolves. And I always have my PSP with me. Right now I'm playing Jeanne D'Arc, which is just awesome. Also, I've got a PS3 and I'm dying for the new Final Fantasy to come out. See? I told you I was a total nerd.

On the downside, only two of the four buttons felt like they were naturally positioned, with the glowing mousewheel awkwardly out of reach. Perhaps smaller hands will have an easier time scrolling, but when you've got dainty digits like I do, it's hard to imagine the current form factor working for a wide range of players.

Verdict: A good gimmick that works for simple shooters, but not for those in need of a robust button set up.

You may be enticed into picking up an HD DVD player (like that Xbox 360 peripheral), especially since we're sure to see loads of deals cropping up in the next few months. But if the pulse of the press is right, which I guarantee it is, HD DVD has been diagnosed with an incurable disease begging for medicine you shouldn't subsidize. Save your money; avoid the heartbreak. Don't fall for the last push of a dead platform. HD DVD is officially a "no buy." As for Blu-ray, the PS3 is still the best deal on the market.

It's nationalism, one could argue. After all, Sony and Nintendo are Japanese companies. And last year, American company Microsoft debuted their Xbox 360's IPTV at CES. But the truth is, Sony, at least, doesn't hold out their good announcements for Japan.

Leipzig won for gaming announcements last year, with Sony unveiling the PS3's DVR, PSP multiplayer syncing with the PS3, and all sorts of neat PSP communication/navigation apps.

The real problem with unveiling such electronic consumer products at CES is that companies like Sony aren't prepping the PS3 to be a DVR in America, let alone the PSP (which requires a wireless digital television signal that doesn't exist in our country). For reasons of either infrastructure (or sometimes stupidity?) video game companies are missing huge hardware opportunities at CES (and America).

Why doesn't Nintendo, in their crafted for the general public attitude, unveil WiiFit to a fat nation that's hungry for weight loss schemes (not as a game at E3, but a real consumer product at CES)? Why doesn't Sony roll out PSP GPS for a country that drives more than any other?

Oh, and timing isn't a great argument either, since CES's proximity to no major holiday makes it the perfect venue to announce technologies that are still inches out of reach.

Frankly, it's shortsightedness and limited thinking on both company's parts. Sony may have excited a few with their promising Blu-ray to PSP transfers, and while admittedly a big step in the right directions, such technology is almost an insult when compared to what we're bound to see from the company in the next year: an incredible digital movie store and/or phones that sync with PS3s...let alone whatever crazy peripherals Nintendo is dreaming up.

The truth is, every major player today is attempting to not only succeed in this generation of consoles, but expand the market in the meantime. Nintendo hopes that your grandma plays brain training or casual titles, Sony hopes that high end home theater enthusiast will seek unparalleled media connectivity and Microsoft hopes to wade moderately into each of these respective pots with titles like Buzz and movies that can be downloaded to your TV.

So why miss an opportunity to speak to the non-gamer public who is willing to spend a bundle on things that plug in? America might not have 1seg capability, but we're not exactly cooking our pterodactyl burgers over an open flame, either.

Sony, the world is now looking at you to produce a reptilian PS3 to match. Don't let us down.

As Xbox Live limps into the third week of 2008 still experiencing slow-downs, and occasional outages, salvation has come in the form of a legal excuse not to explain why the service remains so dodgy.

According to Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, he is no longer allowed to update us because Microsoft now faces a class action lawsuit over the outages. Hryb apologized, but said any future updates will need to come from "the lawyer."

That means no more Twitter updates like "LIVE is looking pretty good now....how is it for you guys-n-girls?" or "I want to thank you all for (mostly) being so understanding during the tough LIVE time. Some of you did decide to cuss at me...but ok.".

The response by gamers over on his Microsoft site is getting quite hostile, hostile toward Larry Hryb and each other and the guys behind the suit. It's unfortunate that this has happened, because the only thing worse than having issues with a very popular service, is not being able to talk about when a fix is coming.

How about you all, are you still experiencing any Xbox Live issues?

Show #263 The One After CES [Major Nelson]

We'll play a role in the way entertainment media is shaped, because the game industry is pleasantly surprised at the way the mainstream has begun to embrace it in new ways, and film, television and music have realized that we're one of the cool kids, too. Neither camp expected this, and neither camp is quite sure, beyond the abstracts, how to address their evolving audiences. So they'll be listening, and watching, letting us declare how we want to play, how to reach us, and taking close notes on what makes us tick. That can only be a good thing.

It's an interesting read touching on a number of current issues, and while only time will tell how all the convergence stuff pans out, it's interesting to contemplate potential collaboration and cross-pollination.

Entertainment Media Convergence: The Case In Favor [Sexy Videogameland]

Mike McWhertor sat down with John Koller, senior marketing manager for the Playstation Portable, at CES and extracted a lot of interesting information out of him. This GameTrailer video gives Koller a chance to pitch why he thinks 2008 is going to be the year of the PSP. Hmm, why does that sound familiar.

I do think the handheld is having quite a resurgence, though I hope that Sony continues to concentrate more on the games and less on the peripherals for the device.

Flynn finally landed an apartment in the arid, housing-free land of San Francisco, so he's taking the day to move his homeless kit into an real life home. But we had a bonanza of original stories hit over the week, lead by Mike McWhertor's CES coverage, so I hopped in to catch you all up.

Maybe You Really DO Like Windows Vista
Slash, Bill Gates, Robbie Bach Form Merino Wool Revolver
Sony Announce 16GB Memory Stick For PSP
Pikachu Sliced Open and Ready to Eat
Know This About Nintendo DS Airplane Use
Kotaku Tower Welcomes Its First Intern
Nintendo Torpedoes The Wii Grey Market
Sony Touts Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 Exclusivity At CES
LittleBigPlanet Updated Impressions From CES
Rolly Rivals PlayStation Presence At Sony's CES Booth
Rumor: Live Issues Wiped Some Unlocked Achievements
LittleBigPlanet Team Talks DLC, Show New Levels At CES PS3 Preview
PSP GPS Hands-On At CES
Japan Gets New Mint Green PSP
Xbox Live Achievements Not Wiped?
Omega Five Is Alive
Skype For PSP Hands-On At CES
Finally, A Halo 3 Gaming Chair
Xbox 360 Backward Compatibility Updates "Winding Down"
Nyko Brings Guitar Hero, Rock Band Together Via One Guitar
Microsoft: We're Still Committed to HD-DVD
The Agency Targeting The Halo Crowd For Sexy MMO Time
PS3, Xbox 360 Get Exclusive Star Wars Soulcalibur IV Characters
Soulcalibur IV Hands-On Impressions
Soulcalibur IV Director's Choice For A Cameo Fighter? Pac-Man
Only At CES: Wii Nunchuk Speakers "On Play"
Sony To Bring "Bite-Sized" PSP Games To PlayStation Store
TN Games Brings Real Head Trauma Fun To PC Shooters
Zalman Wins Kotaku's Least Worst 3D Gaming Display CES Award
Work and Play: A Peek Inside the Lives of Gaming's Greatest
Another GameSpot Reviewer Decides To Leave

What's the plan, gang? Got any good gaming planned for the weekend? To the comments, if so!

I have no idea how it feels, but Nyko's Perfect Shot for the Wii remote certainly looks kick ass. My only issue is that I tend to forget about controllers that I have tucked away in elaborate cases, like the one still sitting dormant in my Guitar Hero controller.

Other studies were similarly themed. One, which looked at over 300 "educational" games, virtual worlds and PC software found that of those examined, only two - both educational games - employed "proven" learning techniques. The rest relied on kids sitting alone in front of a screen, which is apparently not much good to them.

In the end, many present called for an industry-wide code of ethics, aimed at halting the "commercial exploitation" of kids who are, in ever-increasing numbers, visiting branded internet sites and virtual worlds.

All of which is serious business, no? As stated, I've been gaming for hours a day since the age of four, and like to believe my brain's developed somewhat normally. Course I'm writing this dressed in a bear suit, disassembling an AK-47 while recounting the ten commandments in Flemish, but that's all good. Isn't it?

Smarter games, dumber children [News.com.au] [Image]

What you missed:
Gamer Tries to Build Nuclear Reactor in Home, Feds Not Happy
Gates: 360 To Be the Most Reliable Console Available
Soulcalibur IV Director's Choice For A Cameo Fighter? Pac-Man
Smash Bros. Brawl Pushed To March?
Only At CES: Wii Nunchuk Speakers "On Play"
Sony To Bring "Bite-Sized" PSP Games To PlayStation Store
Hands-On With The Retro Duo, The NES/SNES Hybrid
Microsoft Says Xbox Live Outage Due to Server Strain
TN Games Brings Real Head Trauma Fun To PC Shooters
Zalman Wins Kotaku's Least Worst 3D Gaming Display CES Award

The HXT set up did make for a fun little diversion, as that goofball smile on my face wasn't forced. The sensation of getting shot in the head without actually giving up brain matter is oddly exhilarating, if at times uncomfortable for the skull. The vest feedback wasn't as jarring and the TN Games team said they were planning on less intense "force cell" hardware for the final helmet, for those worried about too much cranial abuse.

It currently works with two titles, Call of Duty 2 and the company's own Incursion—which is not so good—but they're planning for support in a bunch of shooters, including Half-Life, Doom and Quake titles.

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Dr. Phil Fights Xbox Live Racism With Phone Support (237 comments), Gates: 360 To Be the Most Reliable Console Available (188) and Microsoft Says Xbox Live Outage Due To Server Strain (187).

One advantage the Retro Duo has over some of the other NES/SNES clones is its ability to properly play the original Starfox, which looked and played just as we remembered it. The double duty console looks like a pretty nice product for anyone who still has plenty of retro titles on hand and isn't already in possession of similar products like the FC Twin. More pics of the consoles are in our gallery below.

In addition to those short-session downloadable games, plans for more legacy PSP titles are planned. Koller said the company will be re-releasing older PlayStation Portable titles as downloads, ones that "retailers aren't interested in carrying at this stage, games that we hear a lot of demand from PSP owners—titles like Wipeout, Twisted Metal—gamers who say 'I want to play this' but can't find it at retail anymore."

Speaking of retail, Koller confirmed that SCEA will be publishing more UMD movies and at a reduced price point. "We definitely understand that releasing a '70s era romantic comedy at $29.99 didn't appeal to most of the demographic," he said, telling us that retailers were "bullish" on carrying the UMD movie format at a more sensible price point.

He said that the company wasn't particularly concerned about the recently confirmed option to copy Blu-ray movie content to a PSP biting into the UMD video market, saying that "Any way we can help get that multimedia content onto the PSP, we're going to take it."

We'll have more from our Q&A with John Koller throughout the week.

Gizmodo had a chance to go hands on with that sexy OLED keyboard that can change each key to whatever you want instantly. The good news is that the Optimus Maximus keyboard itself functions like it should, it's responsive, snappy, but not too noisy. The ability to customize your keys also seems pretty locked-down. The only downside I could see from the hands-on at CES was that the keyboard gets greasy "very greasy" when you use it. That sounds like a HUGE issue to me. As someone who uses his keyboard so much the letters actually wear away, I couldn't stand having a board that was tactilely disagreeable, which is a pretty big disappointment for me because I've been jonesing for this keyboard since it was first announced back in the 1500s.

Hands on With Optimus Maximus Keyboard [Gizmodo]

I braced for something from Gundam lore, but Sasaki surprised us both with his choice: Pac-Man. The thing holding him back from a SC IV guest appearance, he said, was that Pac-Man doesn't have a weapon. Now, I could have sworn I'd seen Pac-Man sporting a helmet and lance at some point...

The BBC News had a sit down with Bill Gates at CES recently and instead of asking him their own questions, they asked him their viewers. This gem, the first in the Q&A video, asked Gates about the hardware issues that have plagued the Xbox 360, almost since launch.

We've had a lot of questions from people who weren't really happy with the kind of service they've been getting from Xbox in the last few years... What are you going to do to ensure that new consoles are more reliable than previous versions

Well we certainly had to apologize to our uses about a number of box that had to be replaced. We did that for free for all of those people, we've gotten a lot of positive feedback about the way we handled it. We've got incredible reliability on the new work we've done. Our commitment is that it will be the most reliable video game box out there. People really love the Xbox because of the content, but we've got to make sure that the hardware never stands in the way of that.

Later in the interview he was asked about Vista and the possibility of releasing a version that would be no-frills, but still support game playing.

Any chance of a no-frills operating system? Just a system that plays PC games and a few basics. I hate the compatibility issues Vista has. And he ends "Help"

Ha ha. Well Vista has been a very successful product. Obviously because it is so broadly used and connects up to everything we get a lot of feedback. Things to improve, new things to work on. We're hard at work on things ,we do downloads of improvements all of the time and of course there will be a major new version coming along. So Vista is very successful, ties into the new hardware advances, but we love getting the feedback. People are very passionate about their PC. They use it more than anything else.

Are you proud of Vista, because a lot of people are questioning whether you should be.

No, I'm very proud of Vista. Like all of the products we ship as soon as we get it out we hear how we could do this differently and that differently but it has been a very important product for the industry a lot of great things were done in Vista. Now we are hard at work on what comes next.

Bill Gates Interview [BBC]

The continued problems were a result of not simply too many people trying to connect and play on Live, but also that too few Xbox Live team members were in the office to react. "It's easy when we're all the office in November, but on December 25th, it's harder to get a hold of everybody," Penello said, later adding "I hope people feel like [giving away a free Live Arcade game] is a fair make good for the inconvenience."

Penello also came to the Live team's defense, noting that "I'd also say in seven years, this has happened maybe zero other times, but I can't remember a time when, other than the slow downloads we had when we launched Video Marketplace, we have had a service outage that wasn't planned."

While Microsoft's Penello and Jeff Bell gave us the impression that the problem is largely addressed when we asked at CES, some of us at Kotaku are still having connection issues, specifically gamertag recovery unresponsiveness. Unfortunately, I'm away from my Xbox 360 and can't report on my own successes or failures with the service. We've heard fewer complaints from readers over the past few days, but still want to hear from you if you're having troubles.

Graphics aside, how does it play? Like a Soul Calibur should. The developer has decided, wisely, not to fix a game that's not broken.

As with many fighting game sequels, Soulcalibur IV is not only prettier, it's faster than its predecessor. Moves are lightning quick in the build we played, but the game's speed, not obscenely fast, may still be in the tweaking stages. The game's director asked us, after a lengthy gameplay session, how we felt about Soulcalibur IV's speed implying that it was up for discussion.

The demo we played featured only three playable characters, Mitsurugi, Taki and Cassandra. The trio were in their trademark outfits, with no option to play with a secondary (or tertiary) costume, so we didn't get eyes on with any unreleased looks for the returning fighters. In person though, everyone we did get a look at though was quite easy on the eyes. Sure, Taki's boobs flopped about ridiculously with the slightest breeze it seemed, but that's not necessarily a complaint.

Graphically, Soulcalibur IV does a few new things. The team has added a respectable amount of bloom lighting, rendering nice bright sunlight to Cassandra's oversaturated stage and bringing a nice glint to Mitsurugi's blade. Characters cast realistic shadows on stage floors, with foliage on the two levels we got a look at dropping believable, organic shade on the combatants.

Outside of the Greek stage, which may be Cassandra's or Sophitia's, the only other arena was more tropical in nature, a lush oasis with hippos and flamingos bathing in the background. Some elements of the background looked to be 2D textures, but this was only noticeable when one wasn't playing the game and many graphical nitpickers may not notice.

Some of the movesets have changed from Soul Calibur III, most noticeably Cassandra's. She played faster and with a more aggressive set of attacks than before, with a couple of new kicks we certainly didn't recognize. Honestly, though, I'm more of an Ivy and Yoshimitsu player, so don't consider me the authority on movesets for the available souls.

Unfortunately, there were many game improvements we would have liked to play but couldn't. Online play wasn't available, nor was the new gauge that allows for "finishing moves" that can end a fight without a ring out, expired time limit or win by health gauge. We also didn't get to preview the custom character creation tool. We were especially intrigued in it by the Soulcalibur IV team's decision to allow costume choices to affect how your character fights (read: heavy armor choices can make for a slower character).

Speaking of ring outs, they did feel a bit more challenging to pull off. In one match against Siliconera's Spencer Yip, a pair of what seemed like assured ring outs turned into a loss for me and a win my still in-bounds rival.

The build we played was nowhere near finished, as it was missing voiceovers, plenty of characters and the odd animation, but it seems that everyone came away pleased. We're definitely looking forward to playing a more complete Soulcalibur IV, as it appears from a few hours of gameplay that the Project Soul team has built a purchase-worthy set of new features on top of a solid foundation.

How funny... and sweet. When I was a kid we did a lot of global traveling. My constant traveling companion was a Winnie the Pooh. I took him with me where ever I went, even to Bangkok, Thailand when we moved there when I turned 5. A year or so into our stay there, living in a private gated compound with families of CIA agents and ambassadors, my older brother decided he'd had just about enough of me. He decided the best way to get rid of me was to send me packing to my grandparents, who lived in Georgia. So he helped me pack my bag, provided me spending money (of the Monopoly brand) and a traveling companion, my faithful Winnie the Pooh. Walking me out the door, he headed me toward the gate and the drunken guard, watching as I slipped through and into the flow of downtown Bangkok. Fortunately the guard awoke from his stupor and grabbed me before I managed to wave down a cab, a skill I had inexplicably developed during my short stay in the country.

When my parents got back home later that afternoon they were told all about it, by a very tearful Brian who pointed out that the guard, I suppose as payment, had confiscated my Winnie the Pooh. My dad marched me down to the small guard shack to retrieve the Pooh, but when we arrived at the open doorway we discovered the guard curled in a ball on his chair, a near-empty glass bottle in one hand and my wide-eyed Pooh wrapped in the sleeping guard's arms, a cherub-like smile on his face. The guard's not Pooh, I'm pretty sure Pooh was silently screaming his little stuffed head off.

We never got my Winnie back... I suppose there are some things worse than sewer water and fleas.

What you missed:
Rumor: Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark Coming to XBLA
Xbox Live Achievements Not Wiped?
GeForce Gamers Get Free Cake From Valve, No Lie
Skype For PSP Hands-On At CES
Xbox 360 Backward Compatibility Updates "Winding Down"
Nyko Brings Guitar Hero, Rock Band Together Via One Guitar
Microsft: We're Still Committed to HD-DVD
Predict Spears' Death, Win a PS3
The Agency Targeting The Halo Crowd For Sexy MMO Time
Set-Top Xbox Not Able to Receive or Record Live TV
PS3, Xbox 360 Get Exclusive Star Wars Soulcalibur IV Characters

Cnet has posted their the nominees for their annual best of CES Awards. The awards include a gaming category which lists, this time around, a wireless nunchuck from Nyko, Gateway's FX gaming desktops and that mammoth Alienware curved monitor everyone is going gaga over.

Hit the jump for the run down of the three gaming nominees and the link to see Cnet's full write up on the products and the entire Best of CES nominee list.

Nyko Wireless Nunchuck
The Nintendo Wii uses a wireless remote to begin with, but that remote still manages to use a cord half the time. Most Wii games use both the Wii Remote and the Wii Nunchuck, an analog stick peripheral that plugs into the base of the remote via a long cable. Nyko first cut the Wii cord with the Wireless Sensor Bar and is taking away yet another tether with the Wireless Nunchuck. The Nyko Wireless Nunchuck connects to the Wiimote via a little wireless dongle that clicks into the controller's accessory jack.

Gateway FX7020
Gateway bowed two new gaming desktops at the show today, the high-end FX540, and the more modest FX7020. The former is an update to Gateway's year-old customizable, semi-high-end Intel-based PCs. The FX7020 packages a quad-core AMD Phenom chip in to a relatively affordable $1,099 package. Gateway's FX7020 represents the type of PC we expect to see a lot of in 2008: the $1,000 to $1,500 gamer that finally has the graphics horsepower to handle the newest 3D PC games.

Alienware's Curved Display
Alienware put on what it termed a "technology statement" in Vegas tonight with the aptly named "curved display." That's its unofficial name. It also has no price yet, and no release date more specific than "second half of 2008." What we can tell you is that after the brief minute or so we spent with this monitor, we think high-end PC gamers are going to be excited for it. The specifics are that it's a rear-projection DLP screen that can run at a resolution of 2,880x900 pixels (wider than a 30-inch LCD, but not quite as tall).

Best of CES [Cnet]

Now, it's time to play.

I just can't get enough of these LittleBigPlanet play videos. This first one shows off the addition of in-game death in a lava pit level. The second video, on the jump, shows how easy it is to make a level of mountains and buildings. It really is amazing and makes me itchy to play the game and start creating stuff.

POSDATA and sister company POSBRO announced at CES today that their portable online gaming device for cell phones, the G100, will be coming to America. US consumers can find the WiMAX device on sale late 2008 - early 2009, but the G100 and the WiMAX gaming network will be available and online in Korea early this year. No word yet on what the games will be, but the companies promise a "variety of online game titles... to meet customer's tastes". And why, exactly, do these companies think it will be wildly popular in the US?

The effect of portable online gaming device will be inspiring in US where video game through TV and online game on PC are quite popular among young people. In the near future, they will be playing high quality online games through G100 via mobile WIMAX network.

Hit the jump for the press release.

Jan 09, 2008 03:30

POSDATA Launches WIMAX Game Business in US

LAS VEGAS —(Business Wire)— Jan. 9, 2008 Today at CES 2008, POSBRO, POSDATA's subsidiary for mobile WIMAX device, announced the intention to launch mobile WIMAX online game business in the US market.
POSBRO has been developing mobile WIMAX specialized terminal under the brand name of FLYVO, and unveiled the world's first portable online gaming platform, named G100, at WiMAX World USA, Chicago, 2007.

KT, the world's largest mobile WIMAX operator currently servicing more than 100,000 commercial subscribers, already signed a commercial agreement with POSBRO to provide online game service via G100 to KT Wibro network starting early 2008 in Korea.

Continuing this success, the G100 will be launching in US around the beginning of 4Q, 2008, or end of 1Q, 2009, according to POSBRO. The G100 will be demonstrated at SPRINT's booth, in CES this week showing the potential of SPRINT's XOHM(TM) Mobile WiMAX network.

"We're delighted to bring this revolutionary mobile WiMAX device to US market, and it will dramatically change the way people enjoy games and Internet while they're on the move," explained Mr. Joonil Shin, CEO of POSBRO.

"We are pleased that POSBRO is expanding its presence to the U.S. market with its leading on-line game products," Mr. Bin Shen, VP, Product Management and Partnership Development for Xohm. "The development of devices and services like this will demonstrate the power of true WiMAX mobile broadband."

The effect of portable online gaming device will be inspiring in US where video game through TV and online game on PC are quite popular among young people. In the near future, they will be playing high quality online games through G100 via mobile WIMAX network.

POSBRO is currently adding up variety of online game titles which are optimized for G100 platform in cooperation with major game developers to meet customers' various tastes.

There wasn't a whole lot of details flapping around when Robbie Bach announced that British Telecom would be the first company to team up with Microsoft to offer consumers an Xbox 360 set-top IPTV box.

Fortunately the BBC was able to squeeze some details about the box out of British Telecom. Chief among them is the fact that despite rumors, and our fervent desires, the box will not be able to receive or record live television. Boo!

The service actually sounds like a more robust version of the Video Marketplace Microsoft already offers on the box.

As well as access to BT's library of on-demand content, users will also be able to watch hundreds of movies and other digital content, including its near-live FA premier League football matches. ... "The reason for streaming only on the Xbox is because currently the console does not have the capability for live TV or enough hard drive for practical downloading of content," explained a BT spokesman.

Well that sucks.

Xbox will host BT's TV service [BBC]

One thing's for sure, The Agency isn't even remotely attempting to attract lapsed Everquest or EVE Online gamers or anyone who feels that chopping virtual lumber is a fun way to spend a Friday night. No, The Agency is all tits, ass and guns, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. There are no bearded dwarf women or obese two-headed trolls to play, just foxy chicks in skin-tight outfits with overtly sexual walk animations and super cool, badass dudes that come in two flavors: sleek and burly.

That may sound like there's a limited character customization option, but it's actually quite broad, from what we've seen. It's just that everyone seems to be painfully attractive, as the game is striving to be the MMO equivalent of a Bond flick. Character design seems to have a bit of Team Fortress 2 aesthetic to it, with an emphasis on more caricaturist silhouettes. The two agency factions, UNITE and Paragon, will add more variety, as the former is more upscale with the latter more a gritty merc type.

One of the design decisions that will probably be welcomed by non-MMO types is that character creation doesn't lock you into a class, as the game is essentially classless. Your class is what you wear, so if you want to play as spec ops or a field medic, you'll have to deck yourself out in the appropriate gear.

The game is running on the Unreal Engine 3 and even in it's alpha stage, looks like a graphically competent shooter and a rather pretty MMO.

Being heavy on action as a shooter and a time-investment as an online multiplayer game, there has to be something to do between the bits of target tracking and large scale firefights. You won't be craft grinding, however, as NPC agency operatives will pick up the slack for you there—think 24's Chloe to your Jack Bauer or Q to your Bond. They'll not only help with tech, you can call on them from the field to support your stealth efforts. There won't be much in the way of blacksmithing or pelt gathering. Instead, the team has added things like casino games and intel gathering by taking photos, along with vehicle challenges, to spice up the gameplay. You'll also be able to play a game of Q*bert, should the mood strike you, as it's one of the included mini-games.

One of the more interesting aspects is The Agency's reach outside of the console or PC. The team is planning to feature SMS support in the final product, so, if you opt-in for it, you can receive text messages from your agency operatives with updates and story driving situations. Talk of PSP and Home support was mentioned, but given the vagueness of those plans, we'll wait for a future update before getting too excited about such talk.

It sounds like the gang at Sony Online Entertainment are trying to do something original with their latest MMO effort and the game seems to have a solid set of original ideas. Whether those disparate parts can come together to be an ultimately satisfying shooter and an online RPG remains to be seen, as the game is still early. We're looking forward to playing at least one of the betas, a time frame for which wasn't provided.