For those not in the know, the 802.11n standard is a step up from the plebeian 802.11g. The other piece of news, this new product was said to be tied to the Zune video store update on Xbox Live. So if GameStop's listing is correct, that's now on the clock for early November, too.

The unit is $99.99. As reported earlier, the original flavor 802.11g adapter is due for a $20 trim once its suped-up cousin hits.

Xbox 360 Wireless N Networking Adapter [GameStop, thanks TiKiMaN1]

The new adapter, and its ability to stream 1080p video, is tied to Microsoft's upcoming Zune video store update to Xbox Live later this year. Ars got no word on a specific release date for either, however.

Mole Spills Holiday 360 Bundle as Microsoft Begins $50 Rebate [Ars Technica]

Microsoft gave the statement to Joystiq earlier today but did not divulge a release date or a suggested cost. Reading between the lines of this statement, it appears Microsoft will sell it alongside its existing regular flavor wireless adapter.

Microsoft Confirms Xbox 360 802.11n Adapter [Joystiq]

Tethering a music game singing virtuoso to a console is a sad, sad thing, especially since the cords are never long enough to allow for the sort of microphone acrobatics perfected by The Who's Roger Daltrey. The wireless microphones from Lips for the Xbox 360 solved this issue, but up until now only supported Lips, which is a game you play secretly, while no one is watching.

Now those wireless mics are a great deal more useful. Microsoft has officially announced that Guitar Hero Metallica supports the wireless singsticks, and a title update this summer will add the functionality to Rock Band 2 as well. Singers rejoice! Now if only Guitar Hero World Tour would get in on the act. *eyes Activision*

In celebration of the microphones being compatible with other games, Microsoft has also released a list of the April song additions for Lips, just in case people would rather just stick with their game instead. Check out the full song list below!

Available April 3:

Wish You Were Here – Incubus

Sugar, We're Goin Down – Fall Out Boy

Bad Moon Rising – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Available April 10:

Ne-Yo Song Pack – Closer, So Sick, and Hate That I Love You by Rihanna feat. Ne-Yo

Coldplay Song Pack – Speed Of Sound, The Scientist, and In My Place

Looking Out My Back Door – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Closer – Ne-Yo

So Sick – Ne-Yo

Available April 17:

Creedence Clearwater Revival Song Pack - Looking Out My Back Door, Bad Moon Rising and Who'll Stop the Rain

Kryptonite – 3 Doors Down

All My Life – K-Ci & Jo Jo

Sing – Travis

Available April 27:

Love Today – Mika

Ocean Avenue – Yellowcard

Linger – The Cranberries

VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi reported the development yesterday. Previously THQ had made games for all kinds of phones. Now they're focusing only on smart phones — iPhones, Blackberry, Symbian, Android phones, etc. "Given today’s market environment, we believe our focus on the high-end handheld market is critical to strengthening our market position and achieving profitability," said THQ chief Brian Farrell.

Takahashi notes that THQ already fired 250 people last year in a bid to save more than $100 million and recover from a disappointing 2008. In the company's second fiscal quarter, THQ reported $164.8 million in revenue, down from $229.3 million in the same quarter of 2007. Its loss also ballooned from $7 million in '07 to $115.3 million last year. The company still has 2,000 employees.

Told you we were listening to a broken record. It's still spinning, too.

THQ Lays off 100, Focuses Wireless Games on Smart Phones Only [VentureBeat]

From the looks of it, the remote-sized 3-in-1 wireless keyboard remote functions as your standard Blu-ray disc remote, with a slide-out keyboard complete with tiny dual-analog sticks to help move yourself about. As a person who currently uses a wired USB keyboard for PlayStation Home and has lost his Blu-ray remote, this seems like a lovely solution, especially at only $28. And just look at the product reviews!

Works great and very cheaper.Once I was landing this website , I didn't want to get down ! I wish I can carry all products in breast and take them home!

I dare you to find a more glowing recommendation than that.

PS3 3in1 Wireless keyboard controller remote [Success HK - Thanks Wraggy!]

This is probably the only set of circumstances in which this would work — 360 stolen, thief lives 30 feet away, that's only gonna happen in a college dorm. But credit to Ryan Ketsenberg for using some critical thinking and old fashioned sleuthing to get his stuff back and bust a thief.

According to The Standard (newspaper of Missouri State):

Ketsenburg, who lives in Hutchens House, said that after his Xbox was stolen, he turned on his wireless Xbox controller and found that it was still connecting to his Xbox. Based on this discovery, Ketsenburg said he realized that his Xbox must be nearby, he said.

The controller connected to the Xbox on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of Hutchens but not on the third floor and seventh floor, so through process of elimination, Ketsenburg said he figured out that the stolen Xbox must be on the fifth floor.

Following the controller's signal, Ketsenburg said he was able to pinpoint the room where his Xbox was stolen.

The Xbox 360 wireless controller has a 30-foot range, according to the Xbox Web site. When looking for his Xbox, Ketsenburg said the light-emitting diodes of the controller flashed when he was out of range.

The 5th floor resident assistant checked the alleged room where the stolen Xbox was and was able to find the Xbox, Ketsenburg said.

Best part? They recovered the console before the thief got home to notice it was now missing from his dorm. Payback's a bitch!

Ketsenberg said his hard drive was formatted, so he's really upset about that. But then again, he got his console back. And he's not the one who's (presumably) getting kicked out of school.

Student Uses Technology to Find Stolen Xbox [The Standard of Missouri State, thanks tipster Shawn S.]

The test is part of a partnership with Japanese telecommunications giant NTT, which is also working with Nintendo on Wifine for DS, which will allow owners to connect at 20 train stations on the Tsukuba Express line, with information on train transfers, weather, and local restaurants at their fingertips.

It's just another way Nintendo is slowly making the DS a requirement for every man, woman and child, waiting until there is one DS for every member of the populace before unleashing their sinister "Phase Two".

Nintendo Japan starts new wireless data service for the DS [CrunchGear]

Among these will be a Big Air action game controller to be launched in the second half of 2008, which Qmotions says is "a full size skateboard that operates with the Xbox 360 and is compatible with popular skateboarding games." The company had such a product, albeit wired, for the first Xbox compatible with SSX3 and Tony Hawk's American Wasteland

The companies didn't reveal other peripherals beyond the skateboard, nor did they say which games would be compatible with the upcoming products. But Xbox 360 owners, take heart: You, too, will soon be able take off your shoes and stand on something when you want to play video games.

Full release follows the jump.

Actiga Corporation (OTCBB:AGAC), a leading pioneer in active video gaming products and services, today announced that Qmotions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Actiga, has signed a North American licensing agreement with Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq:MSFT), allowing Qmotions to incorporate Microsoft's Xbox 360 wireless technology in its game controllers. Under the agreement, Qmotions will produce a full-range of products that will be officially endorsed by Microsoft.

"This is a milestone event for our company that now enables us to design, develop and market a unique range of wireless products, bringing the excitement of action gaming to a whole new level on the Xbox 360 system," said Amro Albanna, chairman and CEO of Actiga. "We are excited to have been chosen as a Microsoft partner, particularly at this early stage of technology development where the award of Microsoft's wireless accessory agreement continues to position us at the cutting edge of technology."

"Our aim with the Xbox 360 system is to broaden the consumer videogame experience and ensure a perfect match between the console, the peripherals and the game," says Scott Loomis, Xbox Third Party Peripheral Program Manager. "Qmotions has proven their commitment to providing a variety of innovative and high quality peripherals to enhance the video gaming adventure. We will work closely with Qmotions to ensure the best experience for our Xbox 360 players."

The first application of the technology will be seen in the second half of 2008 when Qmotions launches a new line of wireless active game controllers. The company's first wireless product introduction will be the Qmotions-Big Air action game controller, a full size skateboard that operates with the Xbox 360 and is compatible with popular skateboarding games.

Guitar Hero 3 Standalone Guitars Priced, Dated, Pictured [Primotech]

Update: Activision reminds us that they have not actually officially announced anything about new wireless guitars but have confirmed that this information isn't accurate.

Corinex has decided it feels bad for all you console users without a wireless network in your home. So, to alleviate the pain and limitations that come with a wired network, Corinex has come out with GameNet, a wireless, two-part networking solution to connect all of your consoles to the Internet. Here's the deal: connect one part to your broadband modem, and plug it into the wall. Then plug the wireless adapter into any console with an Ethernet port. And according to Corinex, with that two-minute process, you now have a connection to the Internet that's better than wireless, at 200 Mbps. If that really does sound like the perfect solution for you, a wire-free (er, reduced) and speedier world can be yours for US$169.99.

Gamers Get Leg-up on Opponents With Corinex's GameNet [CES Press Office]

Mad Catz just announced they signed a multi-year deal with Harmonix and MTV to start cranking out peripherals and "other products" for Rock Band worldwide.

The company has the rights to manufacture, market and sell game accessories including wired and wireless bass guitars, drum percussions sets and a wired microphone. They expect their first controllers to hit by the first half of the year.

"This agreement with MTV Games represents a natural opportunity for Mad Catz to combine our core competencies of producing and distributing high-quality accessories with the entertaining experience of Rock Band's interactive controllers," said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz. "Mad Catz will produce premium instruments, allowing gamers and music fans to experience music in an entirely new light while taking on the personality of their favorite music idols."

"The addition of the Rock Band license is consistent with Mad Catz' stated goal to align ourselves with the most attractive brands and highly-anticipated software releases while seeking additional accessory opportunities to further diversify and grow our revenue base. With the ability to appeal to both hardcore and casual gamers alike, Rock Band is one of the most highly acclaimed releases of the 2007 holiday season and beyond."

I have very mixed feelings right now, VERY MIXED.

Children should never, ever use the internet. Ever.

It's a sad testament to my psyche that upon reading this news the first thing that came to mind was "How could this be used for porn?" The answer? "Just send us your credit card info and friend code, and prepare for the hottest, heaviest Pokemon Battle ever. Don't forget to bring your squirtle." WTB innocence. Michael Fahey

ON APRIL 22, TWO NEW POK MON JEWELS WILL HAVE PEOPLE TALKING

Wireless and Chat Abilities of Pok mon Diamond and Pok mon Pearl Act Like a Cell Phone for Kids

REDMOND, Wash., March 15, 2007 - For a decade, fans of Pok mon video games have been entertained by exciting adventures, dramatic battles and hundreds of new Pok mon. Now the record-setting franchise is evolving with Pok mon Diamond Version and Pok mon Pearl Version, two new games available April 22 for the top-selling Nintendo DS . The in-depth games feature enhanced graphics that make Pok mon jump off the screen like never before. In addition to the 380 Pok mon available in previous versions, players can collect, train and battle more than 100 new Pok mon. After completing certain objectives, they can also import Pok mon from their Game Boy Advance games. Starting March 18, fans who pre-order a copy of either game will receive one of two collectible Pok mon styluses (retailer may require pre-order deposit).

But the game's wireless abilities are what will have everyone talking - literally. Using a local wireless connection, up to eight trainers can connect and play. Both Pok mon Diamond and Pok mon Pearl are fully Wi-Fi compatible, meaning players can log onto Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo's wireless gaming service, and compete with players all around the world. The microphone built into the Nintendo DS even lets players talk with friends before, during and after battles. Only players who have entered one another's Friend Codes can communicate using this Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, feature so players can control with whom they communicate. For kids, it's like having a cell phone that can only connect with their friends. The Nintendo DS Headset, sold separately, makes these conversations a breeze.

"The amazing wireless and voice chat features of Pok mon Diamond and Pok mon Pearl offer gamers something completely new," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "We make games for everybody, and these Pok mon titles are sure to be a hit with new and returning players."

Players can trade Pok mon or battle with players anywhere in the world, even without voice communication. The Global Trade Station allows players to post Pok mon they want to trade on a board and browse through Pok mon other players have posted. The Battle Tower allows players to battle with seven Trainers who have registered their player data in the Wi-Fi Battle Dome. After the battle, players can upload their data so other Trainers can battle them virtually. The more games a player wins, the higher his or her ranking.

Pok mon Diamond and Pok mon Pearl feature the ability for players to control their Pok dex using the touch screen controls of Nintendo DS. As time passes in the real world, the look of the games changes. The Pok mon characters that appear change, and the evolution of some Pok mon is affected.

More than 155 million Pok mon games have been sold worldwide. When Pok mon Diamond and Pok mon Pearl were released in Japan, they became the fastest-selling Pok mon games ever, with 5 million units shipped to retailers in their first three months of availability. For more information about these games, visit www.Pokemon.com.

The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii , Nintendo DS , Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 387 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario , Donkey Kong , Metroid , Zelda and Pok mon . A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.

Pok mon USA, Inc., a subsidiary of The Pok mon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia which includes licensing, marketing, the Pok mon Trading Card Game, an animated TV series, home entertainment, the official Pok mon Web site and an online retail center www.pokemoncenter.com. Just coming off its 10th worldwide anniversary in 2006, Pok mon was launched in Japan in 1996 for play on Nintendo's Game Boy and has since evolved into a global cultural phenomenon. Pok mon was introduced in North America in September 1998 and today is one of the most popular toy and entertainment properties in the world. For more information, visit www.pokemon.com.

This video illustrates an issue some Xbox 360 owners are experiencing when using their original Xbox 360 wireless controllers alongside the recently released wireless headset. Anyone out there in Kotakuland running into this problem? The official Xbox forums are rife with complaints about buggy behavior with the new accessory, but we're not sure how widespread this may be. Hopefully MS is working on a solution for those affected.

Thanks for the info, Ben. Michael McWhertor

Finally! Tripping over the wire when you're rocking out to Godzilla in Guitar Hero and shattering your front teeth across the upper edge of your television screen will be a thing of the past: RedOctane has announced that the Guitar Hero controllers are going wireless next month.

They will be compatible with either Guitar Hero 1 or 2 (the latter's due out next month in the US and Europe), and we're assured that they use the same mechanism, and have been created to the same high quality as the wired Guitar Hero SG controllers.

They're also going to be white, we're told... but it's not clear whether the actual shape has changed at all.

The big question is whether or not these will be bundled into Guitar Hero 2 or not. Keeping fingers and toes crossed. Florian Eckhardt

Wireless Guitar Hero controllers next month! [Eurogamer]

Wires, cords and cables? Blech, no thank you. Wireless gaming is pure happiness. And even happier when it's in French and features a spinning controller. Cute TV spot. No, really. Brian Ashcraft

Thanks, Robin

Over at Aeropause, they spotted this worrying paper submitted by Sony to the FCC. In the paper, Sony claims that Bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules in the PS3 do not transmit simultaneously. This is doubtlessly meant to assuage some sort of FCC requirement.

But if this is true, doesn't that mean that you couldn't be connected wirelessly to the internet and use wireless controllers at the same time? And isn't that just stupid?

Aeropause is cautioning that people not read too much into this, before explanations have been gathered. And hell, there's a few possible explanations, no doubt. I'd personally be surprised if this were true. But then I start thinking all the other ways Sony has managed to fuck up their sure thing, and I start getting a little bit nervous again. Florian Eckhardt

FCC PS3 Papers, What Does This Mean? [Aeropause]

Edit: Kotakuite Kigian writes in the comments:

It is true that both Bluetooth and Wifi use the same ISM band. However as anyone who has Wifi in their home and who uses Bluetooth too, they certainly do work together just fine. They don't need to be transmitting simultaneously.

And Kotakuite John Doe also wrote in:

Just saw your article on the FCC filing revealing that PS3's bluetooth and wifi do not transmit simultaneously. This simply indicates that they're using Time Domain Multiplexing to interleave Bluetooth and Wifi activity to avoid interference between the two signals (since both are on the 2.4Ghz band). To the user, they'll both appear to be on simultaneously, but technically underneath they're actually each active on alternating intervals (it alternates between the two very very quickly, so that to the user it appears they're both on at the same time, all the time). You can do this because the bandwidth required from Wifi and Bluetooth combined is less than that offered by the 2.4Ghz range.

You guys rule. Thanks for the clarification! So we can all probably stand down in alarm on this one' although if that's de facto the way WiFi and Bluetooth operate together, I'm not entirely clear on why it needed to be specified by Sony.

If you're too dang cheap to spend $53.96 on some wireless Guitar Hero controllers, you've got another option: you can rip apart your current one and plans a wireless mechanism deep within its belly.

Make has instructions. All you need are some old wireless controllers, a Guitar Hero controller and the technical sophistication not to send purple bolts of electricity rocketing through your body when you try to wire them together. I was missing one of those three criterion, so I'm afraid I will be mistaken for a rather freakish sufferer for alopecia for the next few weeks. Florian Eckhardt

Wireless Guitar Hero PS2 Controller Mod [Make]

Yesterday, we asked for our readers — whom we see as a vast armada of guinea pigs with money far less valuable than our own — to tell us what they thought of the DDRgame third-party Guitar Hero controller. No one did. But! Someone mentioned that there actually is a wireless Guitar Hero controller. We've been swabbing out our belly buttons ever since.

This is it: the Rocking Freedom V Guitar Controller from Guitar Mania. Not only that, our stinky nemeses over at IGN seem to like it, provided this isn't another one of their on-a-scale-of-8-to-10 punk outs:

Wireless connectivity in Guitar Hero cannot be underestimated in terms of the added level of immersion it offers for hardcore fans. Guitar Hero is all about the fantasy of rocking in front of thousands of adoring fans, and everyone knows if you aren't jumping off of your PAs, spinning, and swinging your guitar around your neck you aren't putting on a proper show. We can't count the times we've jerked our standard guitars right out of the PS2 in the midst of leaping around our living rooms in the midst of a glorious solo, and the sudden freedom provided by the Freedom V has unlocked our true stage presence.

It's pretty pricey at $53.86, but our credit card quivers. Florian Eckhardt

Guitar Mania Official Site

Gamerscoreblog posted up this video of two Aussies playing Project Gotham Racing 3 on their Xbox 360 in the pool. All it took was an outdoor TV set-up, two wireless controllers and four ziplock bags. Man, I wish I had a pool. That looks like fun. Brian Crecente