The two controllers were said to be arriving sometime in October when we caught a gander at them, but a photo from Gamestop seems to show that the two will be hitting on Sept. 22.

And just in case you forgot, Sept. 22 is two days before the official start of the Tokyo Game Show. Sounds like perfect timing for a press conference.

Those shades are "Deep Red" and "Metallic Blue", both of which you've seen before as PSP colours.

Sony's red and blue DualShock 3 controllers land in October, love this country [Engadget]

Away from the chaos of E3, we've gotten a chance to swing a MotionPlus-appended Wii Remote to control Wii Sports Resort, the showcase game for Nintendo's latest controller add-on. Yes, the chaos of the big show was absent, but present were guys from Nintendo.

And here's the thing: the more one spends time chatting with guys from Nintendo of America, the more one feels that parts of their headquarters must feel like a gamer variation of a varsity locker room, where the jocks walk around with swelled chests bragging not about how much they can bench press but how many more times they can return a serve in Wii Sports Resort table tennis.

With meager skills and a willing attitude, Kotaku took a swing.

What Is It?
Wii Sports Resort is the sequel to Wii Sports, which is, Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft notwithstanding, the most-discussed game of the last five years. The original Wii Sports was packed in with every Wii sold in North America. The new Wii Sports comes bundled with MotionPlus, the required add-on that enables a more direct relationship between a player's hand movements and those rendered on-screen. Wii Sports had four five sports. (Edit: sorry about that.) Wii Sports Resort has 12 — well, more than 12 given some of the unlockable variations of the core dozen.

What We Saw
We binged and played five sports: archery, basketball, table tennis, swordplay and skydiving.

How Far Along Is It?
Wii Sports Resort is out in mere weeks. It's done.

What Needs Improvement?
Uh, nothing? This game's quite good. Maybe we should complain about how simple these Miis look. Or about how there's no online play. Or how some of the sports, like bowling, are built upon (or recycled) from what was in Wii Sports. Or how the game would be cooler if it came bundled with two MotionPlusses instead of one to more easily enable multiplayer gaming. But such criticisms would be like yelling at a cute puppy to put on a hat: an ineffectual recommendation and one hardly guaranteed to improve something that's already plenty capable of providing delight.

What Should Stay The Same?

Archery: Seen at E3, previewed by many. Hold the Wii Remote vertical as one would hold a bow and yank back with the nunchuck to pull back the arrow. Hold steady. Account for wind and how gravity will tug on a long-flying arrow. Release. After the easy levels, a batch of new areas and harder difficulty options open up.

Basketball: Select three-point contest (other variations are offered). Hold the remote sideways. Tap the b-button to grab a ball from a rack. Make a flicking motion. Put some spring in your toes. Work through racks all around the half court, just like the pros. It feels perfect, though somewhere a Sony designer is growling that they already did this with Sixaxis for the first NBA game on PS3. Sorry, dude.

Table Tennis: It controls like Wii Sports tennis but plays faster. The variation on head-to-head is a challenge to return serves. Kotaku army, try to beat Nintendo man Melvin's 352 points. That's an order. And don't call the Achievement-like things in this game Achievements. They're Accomplishments. It's unclear, though, whether the times one hits the computer character on the other side of the table with a ball to the head is an Accomplishment or not.

Swordplay: One on one? Played it at E3 last year. Alternate mode involving chopping stalks of bamboo? It's probably dandy. But if there's a trophy for Mini-Game Of The Year, polish it for whatever Nintendo is calling Wii Sports Resort's light variation of Gears of War Horde. You are your Mii. You're holding a sword. And those waves of sword-wielding Miis coming down that rope bridge toward you need to be whacked. Batter them off the bridge and a balloon lifts them to some sort of Wii Sports Resort heaven. Boss Miis with extra health hearts and better blocking abilities await. By the way, imagine if those Miis rushing at you resemble your friends, family and favorite celebrity Miis.

Skydiving: Hold the Wii Remote like it's a small doll and tilt it to make him dive. Shades of the Pilotwings sequel we behaved so well to get but Nintendo never made. Points are taken for linking the diver to other divers, which sends a photographer down to snap a shot. Parachutes open automatically to prevent that Pilotwings pastime of planting skydiver into ground. The unlockable modes for this one include an airplane dogfighting mode, stretching the definition of sport in a manner few will protest.

Final Thoughts
What originally could have been accused as a cash-in or pointless sequel instead appears to boast more depth than any game Nintendo's internal teams have made in a couple of years. There's little to complain about from last night's preview session. In short bursts these games control splendidly.

This is one of those Nintendo games that, when you play early, feels like it's going to both intimidate and inspire game creators. For gamers it will need to prove its depth is equaled by longevity. A healthy sampling of what's on the game's menu suggests that it will. Things are looking up for this one.

Takahashi showed off an early prototype of the title, way before it was bound for release via the PlayStation Network. While crude, it showed off many of Noby Noby Boy's gameplay mechanics. But there was a problem, forcing the game to change platforms.

Takahashi says that, because the Xbox 360 was selling so slowly in Japan at the time, you might think that it was a political decision. But the switch from the Xbox 360 to PS3 was due to one thing: the horizontal layout of the PlayStation 3's DualShock/Sixaxis.

The Xbox 360 controller's diagonal analog stick layout was simply no good.

Besides, Takahashi says that one of his hopes for Noby Noby Boy was that it wouldn't sell very well. More on that later.

The wireless keyboard also features a touchpad mode to allow for mouse input. David Reeves, president of SCEE, said that this touchpad control mode may be used in future game development.

The keyboard will ship in eight configurations in Europe to support the numerous languages and keyboard types in the continent.

The bundles, retailing in Europe for €60, include one Siaxis controller and one of the following games: F1, GT5 Prologue, Folklore or MotorStorm. Looks like the package deal will be Europe-only, though.

Nothing official from Sony on this of course, but GI remains confident that something concrete will be announced in the coming month, possible at the E3 expo this July.

Sony working on 'break apart' motion PS3 pad [GamesIndustry.biz]

Des nouveaux packs PS3 ? [Game-Class, thanks Frank!]

Innovating on that console is the key, Iwata explains. And if Nintendo can keep beating others to the punch on new ways to play new games, it will do just fine.

"What matters to us is whether or not we can continue to constantly create and offer new surprises one after another. If we can, then (other company's attempt to launch Wii Remote-like controller) should not be a big threat.

The efforts in this field to try to appeal to a wide variety of customers are something in which we saw potential early on and that we have been working on the longest, so there appears to be no reason whatsoever why we need to be concerned."

Iwata says that the video game space can be a risky place for new entrants — sure, no argument. But Microsoft is hardly some art-house developer looking for a break, and it's shown enormous tolerance for losing money here, too.

Still The $64,000 question here is more for Microsoft than Nintendo. Microsoft probably wants to use an "Xmote" to unify casual and hardcore gamers into buying a 360. Perhaps Sony thought the same thing too, and the SIXAXIS has gotten absolutely nowhere as an innovation on the PS3, where it is optional, not integral, to gaming.

Of course you can use a Wiimote for a driving game more serious than Mario Kart, but gamers have gotten by just fine without one. And there's such an orthdoxy to FPS controls now, I'm not sure it makes much difference. So, yes, a controller by itself means little. The titles that are written specifically for it, that is where the threat lies, and its something no one can estimate just yet.

Iwata Not Threatened by Rumored Xbox 360 Wiimote Clone [QJ.Net, thanks to El Cernex]

When Mike told me that he didn't like the SIXAXIS controls for the game, and wasn't even able to complete the tutorial, I chalked it up to some innate hatred of the PS3's motion controls on his part. In fact he did admit that he doesn't really like the PS3 games that use SIXAXIS motion sensing, but there are several that I quite like (Warhawk comes to mind), so I decided to give it a whirl.

After playing through GTA4 on the Xbox 360, I swapped seats with Mike and settled down to get to the bottom of his SIXAXIS hatred. A few minutes into the tutorial I figured out what the problem was. The special SIXAXIS controls for this particular game suck, they're absolutely abysmal.

I suppose with some time I could master using the bike, in fact it wasn't that hard, and maybe one day I would fly the helicopter, but that's not the point, the point is there's no benefit using the motion sensing in Grand Theft Auto IV.

The in-game tutorial for the controller, which is an annoyingly permanent option on your in-game cell phone, walks you through the four ways you use the special controller in the game. Here's the break down and my thoughts:

Reload Weapon: Instead of having to mess around with, you know, pushing a button, the SIXAXIS lets you snap the controller back toward you to reload. Very easy to do, but absolutely no benefit.

Motorcycle: This was by far my favorite of the lot, allowing you to steer your bike by tilting side to side. Unfortunately, it also allows you to lean forward on the bike or do a wheelie by tilting the controller forward or backward. It's unfortunate because if you're leaning forward as you play, or sitting back in the chair, it forces you to hold the controller oddly.

Power Boat: The steering works quite well and while this also lets you tilt the controller forward and backwards to adjust the trim, its not as problematic because doing so really doesn't have much of an impact on the controls.

Helicopter: Whooo-boy, this is what prevented Mike from wrapping up his tutorial training. It took me a good three or four tries to pass it as well. Not only do you have to worry about the pitch problem seen with the motorcycles and boats, but the helicopter is much touchier than the other two vehicles. I also seemed to notice a lag issue with the controls that had me overcompensating and, twice, turning my copter so far sideways it would slam into the ground. It was an exercise in frustration and made me want to throw the controller across the room in frustration. Fortunately, you don't have to fly using it.

Final Thoughts: I'm not sure why Rockstar decided to include SIXAXIS motion controls in GTA IV, maybe they had to, but I'm sure happy they don't force you to use them. Not only can you override the motion controls at any time with the sticks and buttons, but you can turn them completely off preventing it from really flawing this fantastic title. Now if I could only remove the SIXAXIS tutorial option in the menu I might be able to stop fiddling.

Check here for a detailed comparison of the 360 versus PS3 versions of the game.

Ed's note: While the SIXAXIS does include the ability to use aftertouch, that function was not included in the tutorial written about above.

Sixaxis will no longer be offered after it's completely sold through at retail (likely by the summer timeframe).

With the R2 button hanging by a thread, a sweeping upward motion is required to press it. The R1 button is missing entirely, and thus unusable. The L1 button has been knocked off its axis a bit, although it still works. And the PS button is stuck in the depressed position. Analog stick functions seem to work fine, as does patented SIXAXIS tilt control, insofar as patented SIXAXIS tilt control works at all.

I'm not the controller flinging type, though I do frequently threaten to toss consoles out my window; still, it's a funny (and perhaps relevant, depending on your play style) read.

Control Pad Stress Test: PlayStation 3 SIXAXIS, Control Pad Stress Test: Xbox 360 Control Pad, Control Pad Stress Test: The Wii Remote [Insult Swordfighting]

XFPS RATEUP for PS3 [TotalConsole]

Feel free to comb over the source text with a fine-toothed comb:

Sony is, in fact, phasing out the 80GB PS3. Sony is going to stay with the two-SKU approach though, and the prices look to stay the same....The Spiderman 3 pack-in will disappear as well once the 80GB unit is gone. In order to maintain a similar value proposition to the 80GB/Spiderman 3 bundle, I expect to see a storage increase to 120 or 160GB at the same price point, plus the new Dual-Shock 3 controller...

And for those who don't know, Ars publications are highly respected in the technology industry. So that's why you'll see the internet taking this one pretty seriously.

Mole: 80GB PS3 dead, 120-160GB with Dual Shock 3 incoming [opposablethumbs]

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

After a quick look around, ducking into Team Fortress 2—which I was able to play momentarily and only in a solitary sense—and working through the first hour of Half-Life 2, I decided to check out what was being billed as the main offender—Half-Life 2: Episode Two. Within the first few minutes, my fears were confirmed. Right off the bat, Episode Two started to chug.

But that was it. After that first scene, featuring our silent protagonist moving through a train car derailed in the wilderness, it was smooth sailing. Walking from out of doors to a nearby cave, the frame rate held. Then, within the first ten minutes of the episode, bizarre texture popping or some such graphical glitch was affecting sidekick Alyx Vance's leather jacket. Something else already? Ugh. But, this too, quickly subsided, and was never seen again.

For the next few hours, the game's graphics performance stayed strong. Having engaged in some heavy fire fights during the course of the afternoon, and experiencing nothing out of the ordinary, I was wondering when it was going to head south. While I have yet to actually finish the episode, I've encountered nothing game breaking, merely a few stutters.

Most of my experiences had taken place indoors, and despite the odd hitch when the lighting went into "look at me!" mode, the Source engine, the Cell and the RSX held their own. When Freeman emerged from a mineshaft and back into the woods, I started to notice a few graphical quibbles. A pair of rocky spires popped in rather crudely, with the level-of-detail change being somewhat noticeable.

The frame rate took a hit in a few spots while outdoors, but mostly when quickly panning from side to side, as the game's motion blur effects kicked in.

I stopped playing right before one of Half-Life 2: Episode Two's vehicle sequences, one of the complaints pointed out in the 1UP preview. I'll be there soon enough, as I plan to finish the Episode tonight and will keep my eyes peeled for any inconsistencies.

There's still plenty of game to cover, but my initial impressions of the final game's technical capabilities are positive. We'll see if they don't last soon enough.

Now that all that frame rate and lighting nonsense is out of the way, how does The Orange Box play? Quite well, actually. As a big fan of the Half-Life series, I'm willing to forgive the odd quibble, but wouldn't want anything to interfere with my experience. Episode Two, so far, has been great fun, exploring a handful of new mechanics and adding interesting set pieces to the series. Using the SIXAXIS for control works quite well, even if I'm not totally in tune with the default controller mapping. Normally, I play my Valve games on the PC, as I have already done with Half-Life 2: Episode One, Portal and Team Fortress 2, but I found the console version to be just as enjoyable.

As far as the game's other titles, I've only spent a bit of time with each. Half-Life 2 was smooth, if a bit homelier in parts than I remember it from a few years ago. And while Portal looks to be a nicely handled port, I can't yet pass judgment on Team Fortress 2. No one else was playing TF2 this morning, unsurprisingly, so my hands-on time with the shooter was uneventful. I certainly can't judge the game's performance when I'm the only one on the map, but hopefully I'll find a few opponents sooner rather than later.

Expect another volume of hands-on impressions of the PlayStation 3 version of The Orange Box tomorrow.

While only one of the tech demos looks somewhat playable—a simple Lunar Lander-style mini-game controlled with the SIXAXIS—the others are still impressive. Take a gander and day dream of the possibilities.

Video of New Research Conducted with PlayStation Eye [PlayStation.blog]