I'd been to three E3s, but this was my first Consumer Electronics Show and my third time in Las Vegas. Having grown up regarding CES as the game show, I'd always been awestruck reading the write ups on the far off games Nintendo and Sega were showcasing at the CES. It seemed like a gaming orgy on a scale my pre-teen brain simply could not comprehend.

But after having stalked the halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center for my trio of E3 adventures, CES in its heyday paled by comparison. E3 was the end-all, be-all gaming event.

With E3 transformed from media freakshow, stuffed to capacity with millions of blinding lights, thousands of pimply-faced "industry professionals" and subwoofers blasting at molar loosening levels, to a series of meetings, I was hoping CES would fill the missing gap. Sure, we'll have PAX and E for All Expo, but CES brings in every consumer electronics company in the world, meaning at least a strong showing from Sony and Microsoft. And it's in Vegas, where freakshows are the norm.

After staying up on Saturday night until 3 AM treating my liver to the lion's share of $100 worth of overpriced booze at clubs Beauty Bar and Lure, I was rudely stirred at the ungodly hour of 8 AM by Crecente. He'd flown in at the last minute to sit in on a group interview with Bill Gates. "Let's meet up" he said. No, let me sleep and eat a breakfast buffet, I thought.

Begrudgingly, I made the three mile, thirty minute drive over to the convention center, snagged my press pass, and met up with Crecente, who spilled the beans on his interview with Gates. We sat in the near-empty international Cafe, planning coverage. The calm before the storm.

After news had leaked during the weekend that Microsoft was enabling the Xbox 360 to use the company's IPTV service, Microsoft officially announced it at the keynote that evening.

Other than that, Uno and Geometry Wars on Vista were the only thing most gamers really cared about. Underwhelming.

Sony's moment in the sun also focused a small portion on their gaming business, touting a million PlayStation 3s shipped to North America. I was thrilled not be live-blogging either of these keynotes.

I just assumed that CES would be on par with E3, maybe less so from a video gaming standpoint, but still full of the hustle and bustle. I was pretty wrong.

CES is a very different beast. For one thing, there's the layout. Lugging around a laptop and the collected swag seemed tough when walking from South Hall to West Hall in the LA Convention Center. That's nothing compared to the confusing layout of the LVCC, which has North, South and Central halls, with bus loops and golf carts to shuttle conventioneers from hall to hall. Add to this multiple press tents outside Central, as well as the Sands Expo Center, The Venetian, and the Las Vegas Hilton and you'll have to quickly become familiar with the layout, the bus schedules and the most efficient route to the press room. I finally understood the geography of CES around 2 PM on day four. Way too late.

On day one, I had two appointments scheduled, one with the Games for Windows group, one to discuss the Xbox 360. During the former we walked through the new features of Vista that impact gaming. From new ways to look at system requirements, to Uno on Live, we talked nothing but Vista. I eagerly awaited my playtime with Guitar Hero II which I could hear on the other side of the meeting room wall.

After finally enjoying the free pastry and coffee provided by MS, I met with Xbox's Peter Moore and Aaron Greenberg to discuss the Xbox 360, HD-DVD and the new IPTV service. This was my first time talking to both, and, yeah, I'll admit it, I was oddly "starstruck" when meeting Moore for the first time. Here was a guy I'd been reading about since his days with the Dreamcast. Talking to Moore about Crazy Taxi was more surreal than I thought it would be, partly due to the slow effectiveness of the courtesy coffee.

I decided to pick myself up with a little gaming just across the street at the spacious Microsoft booth, which held stations for Vista, Zune, IPTV, Xbox 360, Live Messenger and more. In the gaming area, the most space was given to Shadowrun and Halo 2 for Vista. It was clear that Microsoft was treating their booth like an E3 exhibitor. They had product managers and developers—like Flagship's Bill Roper—overseeing each demo unit, ready to answer questions.

The priority given to Xbox 360 games was a bit more unusual. While they smartly gave Guitar Hero II two kiosks, Fusion Frenzy 2 was given prime real estate, despite being largely ignored. Inversely, the never-seen-before Def Jam Icon was hidden away, nestled between a load-bearing column, making actually getting to the demo harder than necessary.

The wait to get on an Xbox 360 or a Windows machine was no more than five minutes. Far different from E3, where standing fifteen to twenty minutes watching someone else's game was not uncommon. In other words, playing games at CES was a breeze.

It was time to find Sony, get my hands on some Heavenly Sword, Lair, and whatever else SCEA was showing off. On the way, I took in the sights, the 100-plus inch televisions from Sharp, Panasonic, LG—they're the ones who were pimping their big HDTVs with Sonic the Hedgehog and Virtua Fighter 5.

At the Sony booth, the wait was a tad longer, but only four games were on display. No Warhawk, no Heavenly Sword. I left Gran Turismo HD and Resistance alone, concentrating on Lair and MotorStorm. It was regrettably clear that the PlayStation business wasn't being displayed with the same importance as the Games for Windows and Xbox business (my booth tour was scheduled, rescheduled, then ignored when I showed up for it). SCEA PR staff were on hand, tucked away behind a desk littered with PSPs.

Fortunately for Sony, the crowds gawking at the PS3s were considerably more impressive than what was at the Xbox 360 area. They even attracted one Sony superfan.

The following few days were spent playing tons of forthcoming Xbox Live Arcade releases, including Alien Hominid, Heavy Weapon, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Since the number of Windows and 360 titles outnumbered everything else, that's where the majority of my gaming took place.

But there were other fringe-gaming moments at the show that kept my attention. A trip to the Sands Expo led me into the Kentia Hall of CES, clogged with random video game exhibitors. GameDaily was there. Tons of chairs with built in sound systems were available for the sitting. Games powered by exercise bikes. The single Wii title from Majesco, Cooking Mama, was behind closed doors, but still playable. After no more than an hour at the Sands, I had exhausted its gaming content.

From that point on, I looked high and low for games, played the Crysis demo thrice over, even watched Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel do his usual Quake 4 schtick. Played a member of Team3D in Counter-Strike. I became a fixture at the Microsoft booth, playing Hellgate London, Def Jam ICON (until I "got it") and squeezing in as much Guitar Hero II as I could.

At one point, I helped what you'd call a non-gamer figure out how to play MLB 2K7. As he was initially holding the Xbox 360 game controller backwards, with the top facing him, it took quite some time to get him up to speed. It was the first time in a long time I'd seen anyone that green at gaming.

After four days, I was ready to get the hell out of Vegas. With only one formal party invite (half the reason I go to these things is for the booze, obviously!) and lots of solo coverage it was a less fun and games type of experience, more of a charting the Las Vegas Convention Center one. It was clear that video games were not anywhere near the highest priority at CES.

I was surprised by how much I liked Shadowrun, glad to have had time with some great Xbox Live Arcade titles. Also surprising was how disjointed the Sony global presence was and how disappointed I was with Lair (please fix!). That Nintendo has zero representation, save one third party cooking game, was disappointing.

We'll see how the rest of the year's gaming events shape up, but CES is no E3 replacement. That's for sure. With all those glossy gadgets, games just don't have the opportunity to shine. Michael McWhertor

While companies like Intel and Sharp went to great lengths to bring in Formula 1 and NASCAR replicas into their booths to give aging executives something memorable to sit in during their gaming sessions, others were simply trying to convince the handful of gamers in attendance that their current sofa just isn't as good as a chair with a subwoofer aimed directly at their ass. Serious gamer chair gallery after the jump.

And yet, with all that effort to capture the show's game chairs on film, that I somehow failed to capture the "Ultimate Game Chair"? So sad. Michael McWhertor

If my prediction of core pack discontinuation in 2007 comes true or MS releases that 256 MB memory unit, this sort of thing won't be an issue. Regardless, core pack users should be denied Castlevania goodness for their shortsighted purchases. I just want to shake you core pack owners! Gah! Michael McWhertor

Castlevania to break Live Arcade size limit [Gamespot]

Def Jam ICON was on the show floor this week and I spent some hands on time with EA's latest brawler packed with Def Jam artists. There are some significant changes for the forthcoming console release, including a change in developers from wrestling specialists Aki to EA Chicago, the studio that brought you Fight Night Round 3.

Only two characters were available for play in the demo, Big Boi of Outkast and T.I. of... I have no idea. Since I'm in Las Vegas, I'll just assume that stands for Treasure Island. The two face off at a gas station (with car wash) which doesn't take long to go up in flames.

At first blush, series vets will notice some striking differences. The game has a bright, almost bleached out, dusty look to it. Characters look very lifelike, with realistic cloth movement. The interactive backgrounds are lovingly modeled.

The four face buttons will perform standard punches and kicks (quick, strong, high and low), with the analog sticks performing multiple functions. They'll initiate "force" moves, like spinning kicks and heavy punches, as well as set up grapples for throwing. Hold the left trigger to switch to "activate turntables" to switch the music track and perform a DJ scratch. Scratching?

Yeah. Scratching.

Apparently you need to "fight to the beat" using the background music to your advantage. My initial impression of the system meant that you'd need to time your attacks to the beat of the music, which is visualized onscreen by the jumping and cracking of the environment, the turning of signs, the rhythm of the car wash, but from what I gather that's not the case. The combat is slowly paced, so this is not Beatmania meets Tekken.

While the game's graphics are beautiful and straightforward, with some of the best fire effects to date, the animation appears a little stiff. Combine that with moments of BIg Boi spinning a record in mid-air in the middle of a fight along with some waving of hands in the air like your fighter just don't care and you get some unintentional hilarity. Still, the models, textures, and HUD-free display make for a nice looking game.

Amidst the din of the CES show floor, fully grasping how the game's music system benefits each player is a little tough, so hopefully we'll get some more hands-on time in a proper environment soon. Since I don't really care about the Def Jam stable or artists, I'm more interested to see how the fighting engine changes flesh out. Michael McWhertor

"I would argue that consumers worldwide, to the tune of over 200 million PlayStations, PS2s, PSPs and PS3s, have decided whether or not Sony has the DNA to deliver hardware, software and services to suit this industry.

I think if you look at Gran Turismo HD alone it points to the potential of the PlayStation Network and the kind of ground breaking content we plan to offer.

Karraker then dug into the mystery of shipped versus sold.

To Sony, shipped has always meant 'sold and shipped to retailers. Microsoft views 'sold' as what has been sold to retailers but could be sitting on pallets in warehouses or stacked on store shelves. 'Sold' to Sony has always meant what the consumer has actually purchased.

I think many people have incorrectly viewed our competitor's 'sold' figure to believe it was actually sold to consumers, which it was not."

Yes, but what does "sold in" mean Karraker?

SCEA rebuts Peter Moore's PS3 "disaster" jab [Gamepro]

Sorry, Crecente. I know you were looking for a McWhertor on barbarian fantasy fix, but it just won't happen. Currently in "press lockdown," the game is on display in Microsoft's CES booth, but I was only permitted to look, not touch.

Funcom's product director J rgen Tharaldsen was nice enough to keep me away from the two demo units, talking me through the highlights and features of their MMO, already three and a half years in development. The game was running in DirectX 10 mode, which looks better than the rather flat screenshot above. Rich rich foliage and lighting made the game stand out as one of the most visually impressive MMOs in recent memory.

The attention to detail was evident in things like ornate armor and weapon design, a clean HUD and impressive animation. Tharaldsen told me that the reason that horse animation looked so realistic was that they actually got motion capture data from a real horse. I think we'd have been satisfied with a motion capture from a pair of dudes in a horse costume, but we'll take it!

If you're not familiar with the name Funcom, they're responsible for another well-known MMO, Anarchy Online. Perhaps you'd prefer to think of them for their PC and Xbox adventure games The Longest Journey and Dreamfall. Reader's choice, but it seems they're exploiting their strengths in both genres to make Conan a strong story driven MMO, rich with the mythos created by author Robert E. Howard.

Some of the highlights from Tharaldsen's expert pitch were dynamic hand-to-hand combat techniques, custom spell recipes, sieges on player-built cities, and an extremely deep character creation tool. How deep? Well, including the requisite muscle mass, hair coloring and cup size sliders, they even have customizers on the level of nose crookedness. Perfect for your giving your barfighting mage some street cred.

Fortunately for non-Vista upgraders, the game will be available for Windows XP and Xbox 360. While cross-platform play is not confirmed, the Conan team wouldn't rule it out. Keep your fingers crossed. We're going to get in the beta proper soon (we hope!) and hope to have some genuine gameplay impressions available soon. Michael McWhertor

Despite my l33t AK skillz, I lost. By a wide margin. He threw in a couple pity kills to stop my snot-nosed sobbing, but it was pretty clear I still suck at Counter-Strike. At least I got a t-shirt I'll never wear out of it! Michael McWhertor

I walked by the Nvidia booth today, only to get suckered into another playthrough of the CES Crysis demo. My goal this time was to launch as many North Korean soldiers into the air, only to have them plummet to their doom. Muahahaha and all that. Fortunately, the lovely Richard Blakeley from Gizmodo scored some quick footage of the floor demo, so you can check out some of the action. Obviously, YouTube doesn't do the DirectX 10 game justice, but at least you can witness some of the cool gameplay. Michael McWhertor

It's Alien Hominid, the 2D side scrolling shooter, but in HD.It's hard, it's artistically fresh, and it's very straightforward. Shoot stuff. Throw grenades. Don't get hit. It's inexplicably fun. This is another strong title for Xbox Live Arcade.

Since I don't have much more to say about it, other than "me like", here are the Achievements for Alien Hominid HD.

Alien in Training 5
Complete level 1-1 of the game.

Hungry Yeti 10
Eat 50 KGB agents with the Yeti.

City Destroyer 10
Destroy 25 buildings during one game.

Juvenile Alien 10
Complete the game on Easy Difficulty.

Adult Alien 15
Complete the game on Medium Difficulty.

Expert Alien 20
Complete the game on Hard Difficulty.

Head Chomper 20
Head bite 50 enemies without touching the ground or firing.

Killing Spree 15
Kill 1000 enemies during one game.

Mad Hatter 20
Unlock all of the 31hats that are in the game.

Perfect Fight 30
Defeat the Final Boss without using a continue.

Survivalist 25
Survive any challenge mode for 20 minutes.

WMD 20
Reach 5000 Km in Super Soviet Missile Mastar.

Pray for a quick release! Michael McWhertor

What exactly makes these built for gaming? I'll leave this one up to the Sharp marketing department, whose carefully worded slides are available after the jump.

The televisions come in 32" (the LC-32GP1U) and 37" (the LC-37GP1U) sizes and have an MSRP of $1700 and $2000 respectively. Cheap! Okay, not really that cheap and this whole "optimized for gaming thing" sounds suspect, but will you believe "pretty"? Michael McWhertor

I still couldn't believe I was there to witness it. Michael McWhertor

* I really have no idea.

Rumored to hit Xbox Live Arcade any day now, Heavy Weapon is PopCap's cartoonish tank shooter that is not only easy to control (you merely move left and right, aiming your turret 180 degrees with the right analog stick) it's definitely the easiest game to play at CES. And, yes, I've played Luxor 2.

Your tank constantly moves to the right and the sky is constantly filled with enemy aircraft. Jets, missiles, bombers, helicopters, and zeppelins will do their best (or close to it) to eliminate you by dropping courteously small amounts of missiles and bombs in your general direction.

Along the way, friendly planes will drop power ups to boost your rate of fire, shields and main weapon strength. They'll also drop MEGA LASER parts, which you'll need four of to deploy for a limited time. Finally, they'll drop nukes, which will give you a screen clearing (and boss damaging) megaton explosion.

After defeating the end level boss, you'll be given a chance to upgrade one of your tank's abilities, from defensive enhancements, to new weapons, such as flak cannons, lasers, homing missiles, lightning bolts (!!!) and more.

Frankly, the game was just too easy. I don't know if the difficulty was toned down for the CES demo, or if I somehow missed setting the skill level, but it was absurdly easy to the point of boredom. Granted, this is a PopCap title, but during my co-op run through of five levels, I lost only one tank. Hopefully, the challenge of the game will increase, because there was a simplistic fun about it, but I can see many gamers becoming quickly uninterested. Michael McWhertor

Since I'm currently rocking no speakers (I've been without a PC sound system since my move in November), it's actually a perfect set for my needs. I don't have the space to install 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound just for my PC. Hopefully I'll find three one hundred dollar bills on the ground over the next few days to pay for it, because I was amazed at the rich, deep, room filling sound coming from three (admittedly large) speakers.

If you're in the market, you should try to get a demo. These were pretty damn impressive. Afterward, I got some hands on time with a few other products which are after the jump.

Normally, I'd consider worrying about keypress lag minimized from 8 milliseconds to 1 millisecond and finely tuned 72 gram key resistance focusing solely on the details, but the Tarantula keyboard is still super cool. Since I, ghetto PC gamer, am still tapping away on the included PS2 keyboard I bought about ten years ago I think I'm due for an upgrade. Stored profiles, programmable macros, a nifty little light attachment accessory for nighttime gaming, I'm getting a little gadget jealous.

Since I'm pretty comfortable with my Logitech wireless optical mouse, I was less excited about some of the gaming mice on display, but they did have a very solid feel with amazing response. I also happen to suck and suck hard at most first-person shooters, so an extra 1200 dpi resolution isn't going to help me out.

But Razer afficionados should be aware that the company will be re-releasing 10,000 Razer Boomslang mice for the device's ten year anniversary. Very cool.

Hopefully we'll get some offered samples and see how our respective games improve. Michael McWhertor

The CES demo of Crytek's gorgeous first-person shooter Crysis is a brief one—too brief, considering the amazing DirectX 10 graphics and effects. You could run through the thing in about 5 minutes without really trying, but you'll want to stick around for a bit longer to take it all in. It's just a small taste of the new features and technology that the Crytek team have stuffed into their futuristic sci-fi shooter.

The demo level takes place in North Korea at a remote army base surrounded by a thick jungle. The Crytek team have made almost everything destructible, including the dense foliage that casts realistic shadows and reacts to gunfire. The first thing I did in the demo was destroy a couple of those son of a bitch trees, just to see their leaves flapping about. Then it was time to waste some unsuspecting North Korean soliders, who, unfortunately for them, didn't have god mode switched on.

While only two weapons were available, the assault rifle gives you the option to customize it on the fly. You can add a silencer, change ammo types, add a sniper scope, but the default settings work just fine. The game is rife with motion blur—simply mouselook left or right quickly, and you'll see it in action at any point.

The game also uses blur and depth of field visual effects during gunplay. Look through the assault rifle sights and you'll lose focus outside the radius of your area of fire. Very cool.

Your character is also outfitted with a full body suit that grants you different abilities, depending on what you have switched on. Switch the focus to strength and you can pick up (and throw) heavy objects. Need some cover? Pick up a barrel (don't worry, it won't explode) then launch it at your enemies. No gravity gun required. The same can be done when you go straight fisticuffs. Turn on strength, walk up to the nearest soldier, grab him by the throat, then launch him across the tarmac. Sadly, you can't pick up corpses and use them as weapons or cover, but when I suggested it, the idea seemed warmly received.

Other powers, such as camo will help you blend in with your surroundings, dynamically changing the suit's color to match things like the local flora or stucco walls. It's similar to the suit worn by Snake in Metal Gear Solid 4 if you're familiar with the TGS trailer.

After exhausting the supply of North Korean soldiers by killing them in every way imaginable, a military helicopter comes in to try to finish you off. It put up a pretty good fight, laying down heavy fire and squeezing off the occasional rocket. Your best bet is to take out the rockets on the wing with gunfire (there's a mounted machine gun on a nearby ATV) then take out the rotor and enjoy the spectacular crash. The explosions in this game are amazing, but seeing one occur about two meters from my face brought the game's frame rate into the single digits. While it wasn't a beefy demo machine, you should seriously consider some hardware upgrades before attempting to run Crysis.

The game ships sometime in the middle of 2007, so start planning your hardware purchases accordingly. This game kicks ass. Michael McWhertor

Wow. In a move that runs against what has always seemed to be a deep-seeded paranoia about piracy, Sony told Bloomberg today that they plan to start including portable files on Blu-ray disc to let users copy movies to laptops and other portable electronics.

Sony Pictures Entertainment will include portable files on Blu-Ray DVDs that can be transferred without a download, David Bishop, head of Sony's home entertainment unit, said in an interview this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Sony may add the feature this year, Bishop said. "It's not currently part of anything on our current release schedule, but we'll probably roll it out sometime this year," Bishop said on Jan. 8.

Thank you Sony, thank you very much. Please, please, please, don't forget your poor, lost PSP when you do that. Can you imagine buying a Blu-ray DVD that includes a free PSP version of the film? HOOOOOT! Brian Crecente

GS: What can you tell us about the HDMI-enabled Xbox 360 rumors that have been going around?

CS: We're always working on prototypes and new technologies and just playing with stuff in Redmond to see what's interesting. I think at the moment we have the widest available connections on the system. If you want to get great HD, I think we've got a good solution for that. In the future it's interesting to see where standards evolve to. I think one of the problems that the whole industry, us and entertainment, are facing at the moment is we're in this world where standards are evolving very quickly.

We have different high-definition standards for discs that we know are competing at the moment. We think HD-DVD is going to be the right way to go, but really it's all about choice in that system so that's why we're offering these sort of services with downloads—skip that whole "format wars" problem. With other standards, audiovideo standards, they're evolving very quickly as well. We're obviously keeping an eye on that and saying, "What are the future standards and how do we give consumers the right choice for that?"

At the moment, everything you might have seen is just looking at our experimentation back in Redmond, not really a product that we're thinking about announcing.

The interview is a must read, Satchell also talks about whether IPTV is coming to all Xbox 360s or just a specialized model, sales, the PS3 and the Wii. Brian Crecente

CES 07 Q&A: Microsoft's Chris Satchell [Gamespot]

Mike's been trying to find someone to let him play the Wii version of Cooking Mama, and I'm sure he will prevail, but until then, here's a clip of the game in action. Brian Crecente

Sadly, I got suckered into pedaling my way through a tortuous ten minutes of Need For Speed: Carbon only to realize I'm terribly out of shape and despise being on display. Plus, I found myself irrationally jealous of the man who got to play Oblivion on the nice bike. Avoid this hall at all costs if you hate being the subject of humiliation gaming! Michael McWhertor

In the interest of full disclosure and satisfying my curiosity, let's see what's inside!

Uh oh. Vista mouse pad? I'm scared to look further.

Huh. Not too bad. That's not a copy of Vista, mind you, merely a Windows Vista Launch Kit CD. But that is a full retail copy of the crtically acclaimed Company of Heroes. Score! Plus, there's a 2GB Sandisk pen drive, a Vista branded pen drive of unspecified capacity, a Belkin Easy Transfer Cable and two cards for free Office Live Basics. That last one is going right in the trash!

At least I'll have plenty of storage space.

Oh, by the way, another pen drive was just brought to my hotel room, courtesy of AMD. These things are worthless! Michael McWhertor

I spent some time with the port of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night today and came away very pleased. The game plays nearly identical to the original, with almost nothing to distinguish it negatively from the 32-bit original.

The game controls very well with either the analog stick or digital cross pad, with the only control change being that the castle map is now displayed with the left trigger. Graphically, the game looks like it did in 1997. Players can choose either original (pixelated) or enhanced (filtered) graphics modes, with the option to stretch the screen vertically and horizontally to fill a 16:9 display. I'd recommend against that, as the game looks far worse stretched out.

Musically, the rich soundtrack seemed intact. However, some voiceovers from a conversation with Maria sounded a bit choppy and the ambient noise of Central Hall was fairly loud, so don't take this as confirmation that the redbook audio is perfect.

There are ten achievements for Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, all of which veterans or noobs should have little trouble completing. Some are as simple as defeating certain bosses, some as time consuming as completing 200.6% of the map, but nothing too extreme awaits future downloaders.

The game is due to be available on Live "soon." I highly recommend anyone who hasn't had the pleasure of securing a copy do so when it hit. This is still a great game. Michael McWhertor

There's nothing more disappointing than the promise of gawking at dozens of pornstars after having played Need For Speed: Carbon on an exercise bike and being denied. If I'd have known the above, I'd never have come to this hellhole. Michael McWhertor

Last time I was presented with the opportunity to get my hands on Factor 5 and Sony's Lair, I had to rush it. Not out of disinterest, mind you, but pure time crunch. The Tokyo Game Show floor is thicker with meaty gamers than even E3 was during its busiest days. Later, during my time at the PlayStation Lounge at Sony HQ, I opted to hound Phil Harrison and Ken Kutaragi for caught-on-tape potential embarrassment instead of actual gaming.

What I had played, I'd liked. It had a few rough edges, but hope they'd be smoothed out.

So when given another chance at CES to try out the dragon-flying PS3 exclusive I jumped on it. Unfortunately, my latest impressions were underwhelming. From an artistic standpoint, the game looks fabulous. You are given huge areas within which to fly, with typically no HUD whatsoever obscuring the screen.

The game starts to lose its luster is in a number of places. The framerate is just not up to par. During the training missions and the initial fly through, it held up at an decent level. But during dragon-to-dragon battles and the scorching and clawing of thousands of troops while on foot, it sank to rates that I'd consider bordering on unplayable.

The game also appeared to be heavily aliased, with jagged edges most noticeable on dragon wings and when viewing the hordes of troops from above. This may have been due to the monitor set up, but these were Sony Bravias. Not exactly entry-level.

Now, the PlayStation 3 is being asked to render literally hundreds of armored knights, in addition to fire effects, as well as detailed architecture in a truly massive environment (the expanse is breathtaking), so some drops in frame rate are unexpected. But when those horned tank beasts were dropped by enemy dragons, I had difficulty staying in control. During dragon-to-dragon fisticuffs, the frame rate made the combat look silly, instead of as cool as two dragons biting and clawing eachother to death in midflight should be.

Speaking of controls, while the SIXAXIS-only control system works well, I occasionally had difficulty keeping my dragon on the ground. Taking off from certain ledges off the main bridge were also frustrating. Flying and mid-air combat were easy to pick up, with the motion control feeling very natural after only a few minutes. Still, can we please get an option to use the left analog stick, Sony? It's currently doing nothing.

The gameplay is varied, from flying, targetting enemy dragons, engaging them in combat, it's frantic and fun. The satisfaction from burning to death dozens of hapless pawns gives the dragon a real sense of power.

I suspected that the Lair demo may have been an older version of the game (possibly from TGS), but a Sony rep confirmed the game was a "refined" build and that it's still expected to ship in the spring. As someone who has had Lair on his must-buy list since the game's debut, I hope that the frame rate issues and graphical hitches are resolved. The game seems like fun, maybe a bit shallow, but still fascinating. While Lair is most likely not the type of game that can be fully absorbed in fifteen minute chunks, I'm hoping to spend even more time with the game in the future.

I just hope those graphical hitches get resolved. Keep your fingers crossed. Michael McWhertor

What he did talk about was continuing to target the 12.5 million MMO players worldwide and the success of World of Warcraft. He brought Blizzard's VP of Game Design Rob Pardo on stage to share the corporate love and show off some new hardware.

In addition to the product announcements made earlier, Dell announced that two custom airbrushed Dell M1710 laptops would be auctioned off on eBay soon. The proceeds of that auction would go to the Second Harvest organization. The WoW fanatics with deep pockets out there should be on the lookout to score bragging rights and send your expendable income to those in need. Michael McWhertor

I just got my hot little hands on this first piece of teaser art for the upcoming blow-everything-to-bits PC shooter Warmonger, Operation: Downtown Destruction. Yeah, that's it. No news here, though I am begging them for some images with a bit more substance to them. Brian Crecente

You might remember that yesterday, during my Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360 playtime, I was offered a chance to play some Crackdown. Well, I was offered a chance to look at some Crackdown. After a genuinely excited build up by Blake, the Microsoft rep, he fired up the executable. As it loaded, he was quick to point out that this wasn't just some GTA clone with cel-shading tacked on. He really loved this game.

Since I wasn't given the chance to actually put my hands on the controller, I can only report that was I saw, I really liked. The art style is definitely different, a strange mix of brightly textured, cel-shaded characters and environments—kind of like a cartoon about acid droppers living in a permanent sunset—but it helps the game stand out. It ran at a pretty smooth clip, even with heavy traffic and well populated streets.

I was shown a handful of save points across different profiles. The first area we explored was with rather stock abilities. Our hero hadn't had a chance to level up or build skills by collecting "energy orbs." (Yes, we're still collecting orbs!) His SUV was rather standard, by ramp-jumping, truck-rolling video game terms. Blake from MS took out a dozen or so of the Los Muertos by turning them from gang members to road stains. The rest he took out with a standard pistol.

When he revisited the level later, he was armed with a handheld rocket launcher, which made short work of everyone in his path. At the level loading hub, as he entered his vehicle, the protagonist's driving skills made themselves very apparent; the car flexed and expanded, transforming into a buffed-out muscle truck, with meaty wheels and (seriously) the ability to squat down and jump. He launched his truck over the clogging traffic while telling me about the option to add a cow catcher blade to the front bumper which will scoop other cars out of your way. My childhood fantasies for supercars were coming true.

I'll admit I was mostly sold on the game at this point—it was at least worth a rental. But what I found most interesting was the Mega Man-esque system of bosses and sub-bosses. Go up against a boss without taking out his lackeys and you're probably going to fail. However, if you take out his gun runner, he'll have less guns. Take out his recruiter, he'll have fewer soldiers. A handy menu lets you know which sub-bosses are out of play and radio transmissions detailing your objectives will update you on your likelihood of success when going after the gang leader.

What can I say? I was easily sucked in. This isn't normally my type of game, but it's something I'm going to keep an eye on. The unique look, sci-fi theme and varied leveling system have piqued my interest. I'm going to try to get some time at a kiosk today to see how it feels. Michael McWhertor

Vigor seems to be an up-and-comer in the gaming PC market, or maybe they've already arrived and I'm way out of touch.

Today they announced their new Force Recon QXN system, a gaming rig with an Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX6700 system.

The $2,650 base QXN will come with a decent spec sheet:

The Vigor Force Recon QXN base model comes standard with Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX6700 at 2.66GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 2X4M Cache. In addition to swift performance from the four processing cores, users benefit from a quieter computing environment thanks to the CPU's Digital Thermal Sensor, which spins the system fans only as fast as needed in order to minimize noise.

The CPU is mounted to an Asus P5N32-E-SLI motherboard with NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Quad Core ready chipset. Vigor also utilizes the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX video card with 768MB DDR3 575MHz and DVI and TV input.

Standard memory and storage includes 1GB of Corsair DDR2 800 MHz memory (2 X 512MB); a pair of WD Raptor 150GB SATA hard drives at 10,000 RPM; an internal 16X DVD+CD Rewritable Combo Drive with bundled DVD/CDRW software; and 1.44MB 3.5" floppy drive or optional floppy with 8-in-1 Card Reader.

The Vigor Force Recon QXN includes onboard Gigabit (10/100/1000Mbps) PCI Network Card. I/O PORTS for adding peripherals include 1 Parallel, 1 Game/Midi, 1 IEEE 1394 Firewire and 10 USB ports.

The Recon QXN pumps out Digital High Definition 3D sound with its 7.1 8-Channel Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS card.

The components are encased in a Vigor FORCE screwless chassis w/aluminum trim and Tornado Air Ventilation System. The Vigor enclosure is obsidian black and can be custom-painted. Vigor cools the system with is Vigor Monsoon II TEC (thermo electric chip) active CPU cooling and air conditioner system. The system is powered by a Tagan TG900-U96 TurboJet NVIDIA-SLI Certified 900-watt power supply.

All units are loaded with Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition SP2 with $49 Vista Business upgrade. The Vigor Force Recon QXN is backed by a three year limited parts and labor warranty.

Memory seems a little low-end to me and the video card isn't top of the line, but what do you expect for a built computer under $2,800? Brian Crecente

LAS VEGAS —(Business Wire)— Jan. 9, 2007 Vigor Gaming Computer, a developer of custom gaming rigs and high end peripherals, today announced the release of Force Recon QXN system, an Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX6700 system geared toward gaming and multimedia enthusiasts.

The Vigor Force Recon QXN with its Core 2 Extreme QX6700 quad-core processor can easily tackle numerous tasks simultaneously. The Core 2 Extreme QX6700 is made up of four separate processing cores in a single package with 8MB of L2 cache. This increases the multitasking potential for users because the CPU significantly improves system responsiveness when performing tasks such as playing a demanding game, rendering a video, or running application software at the same time. It will be shown at CES 2007 in the Intel Booth "Digital Life" section - LVCC 7153.

"No matter how many applications you run, our Force Recon Core 2 Extreme Quad-based systems will react to user commands quickly," said Aaron Chen, Chief Executive Officer of Vigor. "The future belongs to High-Definition content and multiple CPU threads, which will be the development basis for the majority of future games and mainstream programs."

The Vigor Force Recon QXN base model comes standard with Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX6700 at 2.66GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 2X4M Cache. In addition to swift performance from the four processing cores, users benefit from a quieter computing environment thanks to the CPU's Digital Thermal Sensor, which spins the system fans only as fast as needed in order to minimize noise.

The CPU is mounted to an Asus P5N32-E-SLI motherboard with NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Quad Core ready chipset. Vigor also utilizes the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX video card with 768MB DDR3 575MHz and DVI and TV input.

Standard memory and storage includes 1GB of Corsair DDR2 800 MHz memory (2 X 512MB); a pair of WD Raptor 150GB SATA hard drives at 10,000 RPM; an internal 16X DVD+CD Rewritable Combo Drive with bundled DVD/CDRW software; and 1.44MB 3.5" floppy drive or optional floppy with 8-in-1 Card Reader.

The Vigor Force Recon QXN includes onboard Gigabit (10/100/1000Mbps) PCI Network Card. I/O PORTS for adding peripherals include 1 Parallel, 1 Game/Midi, 1 IEEE 1394 Firewire and 10 USB ports.

The Recon QXN pumps out Digital High Definition 3D sound with its 7.1 8-Channel Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS card.

The components are encased in a Vigor FORCE screwless chassis w/aluminum trim and Tornado Air Ventilation System. The Vigor enclosure is obsidian black and can be custom-painted. Vigor cools the system with is Vigor Monsoon II TEC (thermo electric chip) active CPU cooling and air conditioner system. The system is powered by a Tagan TG900-U96 TurboJet NVIDIA-SLI Certified 900-watt power supply.

All units are loaded with Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition SP2 with $49 Vista Business upgrade. The Vigor Force Recon QXN is backed by a three year limited parts and labor warranty.

Base price is $2,649.00 with many self-build options, and available direct from Vigor Gaming at http://www.vigorgaming.com.

The computer comes in a black chassis and includes some fancy new two-stage cooling system as well as an Intel quad-core overclocked processor.

Dell's H2C cooling system is a custom two-stage process. First, a liquid-to-air heat exchanger that works like a car's radiator removes most of the heat from the processor. Then, a fluid chiller removes more heat with ceramic-based thermoelectric cooling (TEC) modules like those used in space shuttles to transfer heat from the sunny side to the cold, dark side in space. Sensor controls help prevent the formation of frost or condensation by helping to keep the processor slightly above ambient room temperature.

The base $5,500 computer comes with:
— Factory-installed Dell H2C two-stage cooling solution including a fan, liquid-to-air heat exchanger, TEC fluid chiller, and circuitry that regulates the fan and TEC voltage to cool the processor efficiently during normal and over-clocked operation

— Intel(R) Core Extreme QX6700 quad-core processor factory overclocked to 3.2 GHz

— Two NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 8800 GTX graphics cards with quad scalable link interface technology for high-definition gaming resolution

— 4 GB(2) 667MHz DDR2 memory for fast loading of programs and screens

— Dual 160 GB(3) 10,000 RPM hard drives (with room for two additional hard drives)

— Dual optical drives

— Dell UltraSharp(TM) 2007WFP 20-inch widescreen flat-panel monitor with Dell AS501 flat-panel mount speakers

— The Razer Tarantula(TM) gaming keyboard and Razer Copperhead(TM) gaming mouse

— Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating system

— One-year limited warranty(4) with designated sales service and support queue

Hit the jump and the rest of the non-gaming announcements from Dell. Brian Crecente

LAS VEGAS —(Business Wire)— Jan. 9, 2007 Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) added a high-performance desktop to its portfolio of XPS(TM) products, and introduced two new widescreen flat-panel displays and a Digital Home Media Suite, here today at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Details and availability of the new products are provided below. More information, including high-resolution images, is available at http://www.dell.com/ces2007news.

Dell XPS 710 H2C Edition Gaming Desktop

The XPS 710 H2Ceramic (H2C) Edition desktop comes in a midnight-black chassis and offers patent-pending cooling technology designed for serious gamers who want to push performance beyond tested limits. Dell developed the H2C design to better cool the processor, extend its life and help the system run more reliably than conventional cooling systems even when the system is overclocked. The Intel quad-core processor is factory overclocked(1) for extreme gaming and video editing, and backed by specialized XPS technicians.

Dell's H2C cooling system is a custom two-stage process. First, a liquid-to-air heat exchanger that works like a car's radiator removes most of the heat from the processor. Then, a fluid chiller removes more heat with ceramic-based thermoelectric cooling (TEC) modules like those used in space shuttles to transfer heat from the sunny side to the cold, dark side in space. Sensor controls help prevent the formation of frost or condensation by helping to keep the processor slightly above ambient room temperature.

The XPS 710 H2C Edition starts at $5,499 and is available worldwide. The base configuration includes:

— Factory-installed Dell H2C two-stage cooling solution including a fan, liquid-to-air heat exchanger, TEC fluid chiller, and circuitry that regulates the fan and TEC voltage to cool the processor efficiently during normal and over-clocked operation

— Intel(R) Core Extreme QX6700 quad-core processor factory overclocked to 3.2 GHz

— Two NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) 8800 GTX graphics cards with quad scalable link interface technology for high-definition gaming resolution

— 4 GB(2) 667MHz DDR2 memory for fast loading of programs and screens

— Dual 160 GB(3) 10,000 RPM hard drives (with room for two additional hard drives)

— Dual optical drives

— Dell UltraSharp(TM) 2007WFP 20-inch widescreen flat-panel monitor with Dell AS501 flat-panel mount speakers

— The Razer Tarantula(TM) gaming keyboard and Razer Copperhead(TM) gaming mouse

— Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Media Center Edition 2005 operating system

— One-year limited warranty(4) with designated sales service and support queue

Dell UltraSharp(TM) 2707WFP 27-Inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

Dell's first 27-inch monitor features a stylish, brushed aluminum bezel atop a black glass stand that can also tilt and swivel. The monitor's Dell TrueColor technology provides 92 percent color gamut coverage of the NTSC color space to gamers, photographers and digital media "prosumers" thereby enabling highly vibrant and vivid images such as deeper reds and crisper blues. The wider color spectrum expands capabilities for users whether they are editing video, working with CAD applications or enjoying the latest games. It's available immediately in the U.S. and starts at $1,399. Additional features include:

— 27-inch widescreen viewable image size

— Maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA)

— 6 ms response time(5) with 1,000:1 contrast ratio

— Dell TrueColor Wide Cold-Cathode Fluorescent Lighting (Wide-CCFL) backlight that delivers deep and vibrant reds, greens and blues and accurate color representation

— Integrated 9-in-2 media card reader in a slim monitor bezel

— Beveled glass base with solid aluminum chassis

— Height-adjustable stand with tilt and swivel capabilities

— Four USB 2.0 ports for connecting devices such as digital cameras and printers

— Three-year limited warranty(4)

Dell E228WFP 22-Inch Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

With a 5-millisecond response time(6), the Dell E228WFP widescreen flat panel LCD monitor presents images, documents, graphics and video with stunning detail, vivid color and smooth motion. The 22-inch widescreen display delivers price/performance and rich productivity features, and can also be used for watching videos and playing games. It's available immediately in the U.S. and starts at $329. Additional features include:

— 22-inch viewable image size

— Maximum resolution of 1680 x 1050

— Lets users view Web pages or documents side by side and run multiple applications simultaneously for improved productivity

— DVI-HDCP ready connectivity

— Tilt capability

— Wall-mountable for flexible installation and convenience (kit sold separately)

— Three-year limited warranty(4)

Dell Home Media Suite

For the first time, Dell is introducing a bundle of products that will gear up the family room — or any room — of a home. The bundle will enable customers to receive digital cable, including premium high-definition programming, and easily view or record it onto PCs.

The Home Media Suite, available in the United States after the introduction of Microsoft's Vista operation system later this month, will include the following:

— XPS 410 core 2 duo, 2GB memory, 1 terabatye RAID disk array, DVD/RW

— Loaded with Windows Vista when available

— Creative Precision Monitor speakers

— Full suite of entertainment software

— Creative Live! Voice webcam

— 27-inch flat panel monitor

— Dell Photo All in One 966 printer

— Linksys 802.11 draft N band router

— Linksys powerline AV bridge

— Digital cable tuner for premium HD TV

About Dell

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell sells more systems globally than any other computer company, placing it No. 25 on the Fortune 500. For more information, visit http://www.dell.com. To get Dell news direct, visit http://www.dell.com/RSS.

Pricing, specifications, availability and terms of offers may change without notice. Taxes, fees and shipping and handling charges are extra, and vary. Dell cannot be responsible for pricing or other errors, and reserves the right to cancel orders arising from such errors.

(1) Overclocking may cause system instability and reduce the operating life of your system components. Dell Tech Support will verify the full functionality of the CPU at the factory default setting and support the CPU performance settings available within the system BIOS. Dell does not provide technical support for any hardware or software issues arising from any third party application, such as NVIDIA nTune 5.0, used to enable overclocking.

(2) The total amount of available memory will be less than 4GB. The amount less depends on the actual system configuration. To fully utilize 4GB or more of memory requires a 64-bit enabled processor and 64-bit operating system.

(3) For hard drives, GB means 1 billion bytes and TB equals 1 trillion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment and will be less. On Dimension, XPS, and Inspiron systems, for Norton Ghost 10, Norton 7 Restore and Dell DataSafe users, up to 25% of the stated hard drive capacity may be utilized by your system as dedicated backup space. With Dell Factory Image Restore installed, Windows Vista users will have 10GB of their hard drive capacity set aside for a recovery image.

(4) For a copy of our guarantees or limited warranties, please write Dell USA L.P., Attn: Warranties, One Dell Way, Round Rock, TX 78682. For more information, visit http://www.dell.com/warranty

(5) Typical response time is 6 ms from grey to grey and 16 ms from black to white.

(6) Typical response time is 5 ms from grey to grey.

Sony today announced the 8GB Memory Stick Pro Duo.

"The life of the Memory Stick format spans from the dawning of the digital camera to the emergence of today's high-definition video and gaming products," said Mike Kahn, senior manager for Memory Stick Media at Sony Electronics. "Throughout all of these advances in the consumer electronics industry, Memory Stick media has remained a constant source of compact and portable flash memory."

Yeah too bad they have so many flavors of the damn thing. This latest biggie stick sotres up to 1,500 images in 10 megapixel mode, more than 18 hours of 786Kp video or 2,000 128 kpbs songs. Now that's big. Brian Crecente

SONY'S MEMORY STICK PRO DUO FORMAT EXPANDS TO EIGHT GIGABYTES

LAS VEGAS(CES Booth #14200), Jan. 7, 2007 - Here at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, Sony presented the newest member of its Memory Stick media family - the 8GB Memory Stick PRO Duo.

Weighing in at just two grams, 0.79-inches wide, 1.22-inches long, and sporting the ten-pin Serial Memory Stick interface, this new flash memory card can be packed with music, movies and photos.

Memory Stick cards provide reliable and sturdy storage of digital images. It has become the exclusive PlayStation Portable memory source and also allows users to expand the imbedded memory of other products like the Sony mylo personal communicator, Sony Ericsson mobile phones and the new PlayStation3 videogame console. The format also remains a core feature of all Cyber-shot digital still cameras.

Beginning this year, a Memory Stick slot will also be standard on all new 2007 Handycam camcorder models.

"The life of the Memory Stick format spans from the dawning of the digital camera to the emergence of today's high-definition video and gaming products," said Mike Kahn, senior manager for Memory Stick Media at Sony Electronics. "Throughout all of these advances in the consumer electronics industry, Memory Stick media has remained a constant source of compact and portable flash memory."

According to Kahn, the 8GB MSX-M8GS Memory Stick model will store approximately 1,500 images in 10-megapixel, fine mode; more than 18 hours of video at 768Kb per seconds in MPEG4 compression; and can hold a collection about 2,000 songs in the MP3 format at 128 kbps with an average of four minutes per song.

For versatility, Sony Memory Stick Duo media cards are sold with an adapter for devices with a standard-size Memory Stick media slot. Kahn said they also offer the highest durability in the flash media marketplace with a standard operating temperature range of -13 F to +185 F.

Current models of Memory Stick products employ MagicGate copyright protection technology to allow for the secure storage of commercial content such as digital music and downloaded movies.

The 8GB Memory Stick PRO Duo media card will be available in February for about $300 at sonystyle.com, at Sony Style retail stores (www.sonystyle.com/retail), and authorized dealers nationwide.

Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft will start introducing video games for their Zune music player within the next 18 months to match what Apple is doing with their iPod.

``I love the interface, I love the screen,'' Peter Moore said at a dinner with reporters during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The story goes on to talk about the Zune's expected sales versus iPod sales. Blah, blah, blah. Interesting timing, since I just mentioned like 10 minutes ago that rumor I heard about Apple beefing up games for their iPod. Brian Crecente

Microsoft Will Add Video Games to Zune by July 2008 (Update4) [Bloomberg]

VoodooPC is showing off a new gaming laptop that includes two NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX GPUs running in NVIDIA SLI mode and powered by AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core mobile technology as well as a a 20.1" screen.

"It's like we crammed a desktop into a notebook form factor," said Rahul Sood, chief technologist, VoodooPC, part of the Global Gaming business unit of HP (NYSE:HPQ)(Nasdaq:HPQ). "It may be large, and the battery life is non-existent, but this is one insanely fast notebook."

I couldn't seem to find a price for this laptop anywhere, but seeing as other Envy models sell for $4,500, I'm guessing upward of $5,000. Besides the insane price, the main thing preventing me from making this purchase is that I'm not sure how much sense it makes to buy a gaming PC you essentially can't upgrade. Brian Crecente

VoodooPC, the world's leading architect of highly personalized, high-performance PCs, today introduced the Voodoo ENVY HW:201 Notebook PC. Featuring two NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX GPUs running in NVIDIA SLI mode and powered by AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core mobile technology, the HW:201 also features the biggest notebook display on the market today - a 20.1" high-resolution screen - making it the perfect laptop for PC gamers who demand a more immersive portable PC gaming experience. The HW:201 is set to begin shipping to customers on January 8, 2007.

At the core of the ENVY HW:201, users can choose between two NVIDIA graphics cards: the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX with 512MB of RAM for high-performance PC gaming or the NVIDIA Quadro FX 2500M with 512MB of RAM for those looking for a high-performance portable workstation. Users can additionally select a choice of a single graphics card or two in NVIDIA SLI mode for the ultimate in gaming performance and image quality. For the hardcore PC gamer, this means the BIG screen provides dual graphic cinema quality gaming with blistering fast response times that are sure to turn heads.

Driving the system is AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core mobile technology, which delivers exceptional multi-tasking and multi-threaded performance. This high-performance CPU allows users to simultaneously run multiple applications at the same time - all with increased performance. Performing tasks such as burning CDs, reading email messages, editing digital photos and listening to music all at the same time with no slow downs means a richer overall experience for the user.

The ENVY HW:201, which measures 18.75" x 13.5" x 1.9", also supplies tremendous storage (up to 320GB using two hard drives), allowing users to save more of their favorite photos, music, games, and more, as well as headroom to install additional office and entertainment applications. Customers may also choose RAID 0 for the ultimate transfer rates and application load times.

"It's like we crammed a desktop into a notebook form factor," said Rahul Sood, chief technologist, VoodooPC, part of the Global Gaming business unit of HP (NYSE:HPQ)(Nasdaq:HPQ). "It may be large, and the battery life is non-existent, but this is one insanely fast notebook."

"Voodoo is always at the peak of performance," said Rene Haas, general manager of Notebook GPUs at NVIDIA. "With two of the fastest NVIDIA GeForce notebook GPUs in NVIDIA SLI mode or a NVIDIA Quadro GPU, this new graphics powerhouse is the ultimate mobile gaming and workstation machine."

Additional features include: Voodoo ENVY webcam; Voodoo ENVY Bluetooth and Wireless A/B/G networking; and a Voodoo ENVY HW:201 theater audio system for a truly immersive experience.

But this is CES. This is where PlayStation doesn't dominate, it simply has a presence. It's the event where you ask for David Karakker at the Sony press conference and they go "Who, again?"

The PlayStation booth at CES, while not what you'd call emaciated, is definitely not overbearing. The entire area consists of first party titles, including Lair, MotorStorm, Gran Turismo HD and Resistance: Fall of Man. A handful of PSP titles get floor space, but location free playing capabilities get an equal share.

Hit the jump for a couple photos of the space, which one can almost fully explore by rotating in one spot. Michael McWhertor

FASA Studios brought a storm of fanboy anger upon themselves when they decided to pitch Shadowrun for Windows Vista and Xbox 360 as a first-person shooter. But they somehow convinced Microsoft to turn the RPG series into an action-oriented affair.

I spent a good half-hour playing both the Xbox 360 version and its Windows Vista counterpart, just to see how the game is progressing. FASA Studio manager Mitch Gitelman was hanging around the demo stations all day, helping out Shadowrun noobs like myself become accustomed to the controls, explaining the Magic and Tech systems.

After learning how to teleport through objects (simply walk, jump or crouch and you'll safely pass through walls, ceilings or floors), use my glider, and see enemies through solid matter (you're also given their distance in meters) I played my first bot match.

Having just played the PC version of Halo 2, I was thrilled to have some rather unconventional FPS gameplay at my disposal. Dodging firefights by dropping through the floor into the next room, then gliding safely to the floor below to throw out a Tree of Life to heal was, I admit it, damn fun.

As I learned more Magic and Tech abilities, I was shown the radial menu that lets you assign these skills to shoulder buttons and triggers. I cringed. I'd never be able to pull this off in the middle of a firefight and remember what button I'd assigned it to. Fortunately, the PC version makes this much easier, letting you assign skills to number keys. Mouse navigation also helps.

During my second level of 360 version gaming, I picked up new skills like Resurrection, which adds another fantastic aspect to multiplayer gaming. The ability to raise your fallen comrades, with your survival now dependant on theirs, opens up some cool strategic options.

Shadowrun is, unfortunately, a Vista exclusive. This will sadly limit its userbase, but cross-platform play with 360 owners will hopefully make up for that. If I were to buy Shadowrun (which is a possibility), I'd definitely go for the PC version, as the keyboard and mouse controls feel like a personal must. Given time, I'm sure I could get used to the radial menu options, but I'm just too damn impatient.

The product is shaping up far better than I had anticipated. My only concerns about the title lie in balancing. Cross platform play, combined with the new gameplay possibilities provided by things like teleportation, gliding, resurrecting and corpse-destruction could make levelling the playfield a bit tough. Let's hope FASA can wrap up all the loose ends and ship a solid title.

If you want to read more about Shadowrun, make sure you check out Mark Wilson's excellent hands-on feature from September of last year linked below. Michael McWhertor

Kotaku Feature: Shadowrun Hands-On [Kotaku]

Still, it's worth noting that LG has partnered with Sega to show off their 1080p displays with pre-rendered movies from Sonic the Hedgehog and Virtua Fighter 5. And, strangely enough, cinematics from Q Entertainment and Phantagram's Ninety-Nine Nights also were on rotation.

Okay, okay, they actually look pretty damn good. Seeing Sarah's leather-clad butt in 1080p does give one a little bit of gadget lust. Michael McWhertor

I spent a few races with an updated version of MotorStorm during my first run through Sony's PlayStation booth. Only two kiosks were available for play, with a new map not featured in the online demo for show attendees to try out.

Unlike the PlayStation Store and kiosk demos, the full broad line-up of vehicles is available which makes the races seem that much more chaotic.

Even though Crecente has taken the MotorStorm fanboy torch from me officially, I'm still unreasonably excited for the ultimate success of this game. That said, I'm sad to report that my impression of the CES demo was decidedly less than spectacular. The only available track was a muddier course, full of sharp turns and ramps, but the sense of speed from the online demo seemed to be missing.

The demo course was very distinct from what I've played before, but took some getting used to. Sadly, my skills let me down, throwing me from a solid third place in my first race all the way down to fifteenth. There were a few moments where the course seemed to get in my way, as certain portions of the track that looked like ramps... weren't. Oops.

I'll spend some more time with the title tomorrow during my scheduled booth tour and report back with further impressions. Michael McWhertor

Intel had four of these lined-up in their booth to show off their processors with their spokesamazon barking out orders to the execs. This display seemed to fascinate dozens of CES attendees. Me? I was unimpressed. These guys should've have gone to E3. Michael McWhertor

At the Microsoft booth in Central Hall, a slew of games are available, from Rail Simulator to Luxor 2, every taste is accounted for. Okay, that was uncalled for. There was Halo 2, which, as you recall, is exclusive to the Windows Vista operating system. Despite being a port of a two year old game, it still drew plenty of curious gamers.

I waited about fifteen minutes for my chance to compete in a few rounds of Halo 2 multiplayer. The game was straight up deathmatch on the map Sanctuary from the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack. The option to play with the Xbox 360 controller or mouse and keyboard were both available, so I opted for the latter to see how my Halo skills held up sans controller.

Visually, the game looks unimpressive. The models, textures and level architecture don't smack of a 2007 PC first-person shooter release. The game's frame rate was surprisingly shaky, but controls were solid. Despite my preference for mouse and keyboard controls, it felt a little strange to play the game this way.

Gameplay-wise, it's the same Halo 2 multiplayer gamers have logged millions of hours with on Xbox Live, just in higher resolution. After playing Shadowrun, another Vista only Windows game, the Halo 2 gameplay feels very meat and potatoes. Just a bit too straightforward for me at this point. I think I'll be passing on this port, but those of you who haven't tired yet of the Xbox version should at least take a look. Michael McWhertor

JAKKS today announced five new Plug and Play gaming systems including ones based on the Star Wars and Marvel franchises.

I loved their work on the retro stuff, but I'm not such a fan of their "original content." Which often seems to be NES derivative crap.

Here's their full 2007 line-up:

Deal or No Deal TV Games challenges each player with the question - take the banker's offer or open another briefcase? The road to riches is fraught with difficult choices and exciting results in the latest JAKKS' TV Games offering. Deal or No Deal TV Games features authentic audio clips from Howie Mandel, the show's host!

Star Wars: Original Trilogy TV Games is the second controller in the Star Wars TV Games series. Star Wars fans will be transported back to the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi eras. Battle the Empire above the Moon of Endor and on the frozen world of Hoth with four brand new games spanning the worlds of Star Wars Episodes 5 and 6.

Marvel Heroes TV Games is action-packed with a team of Marvel superheroes on a new set of dangerous missions to keep their most lethal enemies from destroying the city and quite possibly, the world. Join Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine and the Ghost Rider in five games with all different adventures!

Sesame Street TV Games debuts one of the longest running children's shows on TV as one of the newest TV Games titles for preschoolers. Sesame Street(R) TV Games(TM) contain five new games all narrated by Elmo and featuring Big Bird, Grover, Zoe, Bert and Ernie. Sesame Street TV Games is the first-ever 'music and rhythm-based' TV Games title and features an adorable bongo drum shaped controller.

Go, Diego, Go! TV Games is based on one of the top-rated preschool shows on Nick Jr. It follows Dora the Explorer's cousin, Diego Marquez, on a challenging mission in 4 "wild" wildlife adventure games to rescue the Rainforest's precious animals, and at the same time teaches kids about wildlife and the importance of preserving endangered animals.

Brian Crecente

DIRECTV today unveiled some more details about the pro gaming league they are creating and planning to broadcast internationally.

The broadcast company is in talks with British Sky Broadcasting and STAR Asia to secure international broadcast of their newly formed Championship Gaming Series, according to the company.

They also announced that long time pro-gaming poster child Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendell will be trading in his keyboard and mouse for a microphone, taking on the role of the new comp's play-by-play commentator, spokesperson and advisor.

"We couldn't help but notice that gaming had actually become a sport. Not only in the way the gamers created teams to compete, but also in their conditioning and mind set and dedication while playing. So it wasn't a quantum leap to then determine if it was becoming a sport, we should cover it like a sport, said David Hill, President, DIRECTV Entertainment. "The reaction to our first production, the Championship Gaming Invitational, was little short of phenomenal, so it was a no-brainer to take this next logical step to create the series. We believe the combination of a world wide broadcast platform, coupled with forward thinking partners like Mountain Dew, will create a brand new sport which is truly universal. Championship Gaming Series has the potential to become the next soccer in terms of world wide appeal."

The Championship Gaming Series will be based in five regions around the word: North America, Latin America, UK, Europe and Australia/Asia/Middle East.

Each region will host online qualifiers and live tournament events to determine the teams which will represent each area. From those competitions, twelve champion teams will emerge and compete in the league's Grand Slam round. Grand Slam winners, both individuals and teams, will advance to the Championship Gaming Series World Championship, which will be hosted in the United States.

Championship Gaming Series teams will consist of squads dedicated to playing specific game genres, including racing, fighting, action/adventure/strategy and first person shooters. In the United States, the series will have six regional teams comprised of the best players in each gaming genre.

Sounds like a pretty solid plan and with the combined support of so many pro-gamers and organizers as well as some pretty huge sponsors and of course DIRECTV, I suspect this could be the one that finally brings pro gaming to the ungamed masses. Brian Crecente

LAS VEGAS —(Business Wire)— Jan. 8, 2007 DIRECTV, the nation's leading satellite television service provider, announced today at the 2007 International Consumer Electronics Show that it is taking the sports entertainment world by storm with launch of the Championship Gaming Series, an international video gaming league which will broadcast to over 100 million homes worldwide starting in Spring 2007 and airing nationally on DIRECTV's The 101. The Series, which was originally announced last year, will expand to feature teams from North America, Latin America, United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia as the world's top pro gamers battle in cyber-space for the international title and over $1 million in prize money.

DIRECTV is in final discussions with global entertainment giants British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) and STAR Asia, among others, to build an international network and to broadcast the Championship Gaming Series. In addition to international televised distribution, the series will partner with Internet powerhouse IGN Entertainment, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, to provide online coverage, creating a multi-platform opportunity to bring gaming to the masses.
Gaming legend Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel will capture the action as the exclusive play-by-play commentator and global league spokesperson and advisor. With a roster of the best pro gamers in the world, unparalleled production values and best-in-class televised sports-style coverage, the series will be the dominant force in professional gaming worldwide.

The series will take the exploding phenomenon of professional gaming to the next level with high-definition televised league play using advanced technology to take viewers inside the games themselves. For the first time in the history of the sport, team members who qualify for the Championship Gaming Series will be drafted by franchises and paid salaries as full-time pro gamers. Team franchises will be led by salaried General Managers, who are established leaders in competitive gaming.

"We couldn't help but notice that gaming had actually become a sport. Not only in the way the gamers created teams to compete, but also in their conditioning and mind set and dedication while playing. So it wasn't a quantum leap to then determine if it was becoming a sport, we should cover it like a sport, said David Hill, President, DIRECTV Entertainment. "The reaction to our first production, the Championship Gaming Invitational, was little short of phenomenal, so it was a no-brainer to take this next logical step to create the series. We believe the combination of a world wide broadcast platform, coupled with forward thinking partners like Mountain Dew, will create a brand new sport which is truly universal. Championship Gaming Series has the potential to become the next soccer in terms of world wide appeal."

The series will employ industry giants to transform the game action into compelling television for both gamers and non-gamers alike. Fatal1ty, who after dominating the sport for seven years, will take on a new role as exclusive play-by-play commentator for the Series. Eleven-time Emmy Award-winner Mike Burks will control multiple high-definition cameras, as well as virtual cameras to cover all the action, both on and off the playing field. With its unparalleled production value and televised sports-style coverage, the Championship Gaming Series will set the standard for professional gaming competitions worldwide.

"DIRECTV really understands the nature of gaming and has figured out how to turn the sport I love into something that gamers and non-gamers will enjoy on television," said Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel. "I can't wait to take over the microphone and play such an important role in the evolution and expansion competitive video gaming. Championship Gaming Series is going to be the best platform for aspiring gamers to realize what it takes to become an international gaming champion."

"We are excited about the Championship Gaming Series and look forward to becoming the lead gaming and broadcast partner for the Series in the UK and Ireland. Gaming fits squarely into Sky's strategy for providing an unmatched in-home entertainment experience and we look forward to moving ahead with the project," comments James Baker, Managing Director of Sky Networked Media.

Championship Gaming Series will be structurally based in five regions around the world - North America, Latin America, UK, Europe and Australia/Asia/Middle East. Each region will host online qualifiers and live tournament events to determine the teams which will represent each area. From those competitions, twelve champion teams will emerge and compete in the league's Grand Slam round. Grand Slam winners, both individuals and teams, will advance to the Championship Gaming Series World Championship, which will be hosted in the United States.

"The Championship Gaming Series has the potential to transform the professional gaming industry," said Frank Cooper, vice president, flavored soft drinks, Pepsi-Cola North America. "As a founding partner of the series, Mountain Dew sees this as a unique opportunity to redefine our role in the world of gaming, supporting a unique initiative that enables gaming enthusiasts get closer to the latest technology."

Championship Gaming Series teams will consist of squads dedicated to playing specific game genres, including racing, fighting, action/adventure/strategy and first person shooters. In the United States, the series will have six regional teams comprised of the best players in each gaming genre.

DIRECTV's first U.S. Championship Gaming Invitational (CGI), which aired in July of 2006, was held in a 16,000-square-foot airplane hanger, at the former Treasure Island Naval Base in San Francisco. Competitors faced off in games such as Electronic Arts(TM) Battlefield 2(TM), Microsoft Game Studio's(TM) Project Gotham Racing(R) 3 and Halo(R) 2, for prizes and instant money payouts. First prize winners included complexity, 20ID, Jason "FiddyownsU" Hodges, Joe "Phantom Hitman" Tackett and Emmanuel "MASTER" Rodriguez. The second CGI took place at Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, CA on December 16 and will premiere on DIRECTV's The 101 in February, 2007.