Gizmodo: addon

DSi Studio Kit Can Start Your Kid On a Path of Photography and Drugs Early

Jason Chen — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:35:08 EST

The DSi's camera is probably the lowest-quality camera device you can buy today that can still counts as a camera. But, it's still a camera, and your kids might enjoy making their photos slightly more interesting than the default shots.

Thrustmaster's $20 kit offers variable color filters, a macro lens, a telephoto lens and a wide angle lens. It's great for illustrating the fact that lenses change the way a camera works, since it's not quite something that clicks solidly in your brain until you see it firsthand. But it's only $20, so it's not too much to waste when your kid loses all the pieces. [Thrustmaster via Ubergizmo via Crunchgear]

Songbird iPod Add-On Randomly Deleting Music, Uninstall Now

Sean Fallon — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:20:00 EDT

Once dubbed as an iTunes-killer, Songbird has been plagued with bug issues—the most recent involving a nasty bit of business with its iPod add-on. Apparently it deletes music without user permission.

Naturally, it is highly recommended that you uninstall the add-on. Songbird is currently working on the problem, but if you have already been bit by the bug and you don't have a backup, it might be a good idea to look into some free software tools for recovering deleted files. [Songbird via Lifehacker]

Thrustmaster's Glowing Lightsaber Wiimote Add-on Might Make Force Unleashed Bearable

Jason Chen — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EDT

We've seen Wii lightsaber attachments before, but Thrustmaster's version actually looks like something we'd be excited in using. These add-on sticks are powered by three AAAs and have 17 blue or red LEDs for glow-in-the-dark action. Nice, but we're not sure how much more "gameplay" it'll add to The Force Unleashed. Bonus shot for awkward Canadian teens after the jump. [Thrustmaster via Go Nintendo]

Sony Discontinues PSP Extended Battery Pack

Jason Chen — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 12:30:00 EDT

PSP Fanboy just learned that Sony's discontinuing their 2200mAh PSP battery pack, an official aftermarket addon that would allow you to game for up to 12 hours or so. What's the deal? We're not sure, but someone from Sony said they're looking at other ways to "service the consumer," which might say to us that they're looking at ways to extend battery life without making the back of the PSP bulge out in an unseemly manner. And just when we learned how to hack your PSP for homebrew apps too. [PSP Fanboy]

Nintendo Wants To Make Wii MotionPlus As Cheap As Possible

Jason Chen — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:20:00 EDT

Nintendo's President Iwata, the man who wants US customers to believe that there will be a Wii shortage this Christmas not caused by Nintendo themselves, has just said that they want the Wii MotionPlus to be as cheap as possible because it doesn't cost too much to manufacture. How cheap? They're not sure yet. We did the calculations, and if the MotionPlus is is $15, that'll bump the Wii up to in between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in terms of "total" pricing. Will you be forced to buy one?

Mr. Iwata: There will be games that will be enhanced by the Wii Motion Plus as well as games that can only be played with it. Users will need four if they have four controllers, but we're going to try to offer it for as little as possible. We haven't announced the price yet, but the cost of making the Wii Motion Plus is not that much, so I think we can make it very affordable.

Maybe yes, maybe no. It depends on what games you play, and if you only play Wii Sports and Wii Play, you won't need to pick up another add-on for your Wiimotes. [WSJ via Kotaku]

Brando's Power Station Holds 1000mAh, Title For Cheapest iPhone Battery

Jason Chen — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:40:00 EDT

We're not sure if Brando's version of the external iPhone battery pack bests the others we've seen in performance, but it's definitely the cheapest by far. At $25, it's a whole $18 cheaper than the iPhoneck, and half as costly as Macally's PowerLink. Is it any good? No clue yet. But it's cheap, which is all some people care about. [Brando]

Extending The Life of Your iPhone 3G With Battery Packs

Sean Fallon — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:30:00 EDT

If you are simply not satisfied with the battery life of your new iPhone 3G, you do have a few options. You could try and maximize it, or you could pick up some battery packs like the iPhoneck. Sure it extends your iPhone 3G by a whopping 2-inches, but it can also fully charge your phone in 90 minutes. There is also the older FastMac iV and the Kensington Mini, which should both work fine with the 3G. The iPhoneck will be available in August for $43. [iPhoneck via DVICE and Kensington via Geek.com]

Cyber Smash Grip Add-on Turns Wiimotes Into DualShocks

Jason Chen — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Despite the supposedly game-changing motion controls that the Wii brings to gaming, a good portion of AAA games use the Wiimote in the more traditional controller sense. How do you make the one-handed controller more comfortable for two handed play? By shoving it inside a body that adds an "analog" stick and two DualShock-like grips. And when you're done making Snake do sexy things to Samus, it comes off for easy storage. [Cyber Gadget via Impress via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

Guitar Hero On Tour for Nintendo DS Controller Revealed

Jason Chen — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:02:03 EDT

Turns out all those crazy Guitar Hero for DS renders were just about as crazy as the official add-on, with German gaming mag N-Zone.de showing off the wraparound controller in all its glory. It attaches to the back of the DS and has a hand strap so you don't drop the thing while hitting the notes on the right side (with your left hand). You hold the DS like a book and hit the four (not five) frets with your left hand fingers while strumming the touchscreen on the right, giving it as close a "Guitar Hero" feel as you're going to get on the DS. Will you be able to flip the attachment over to the left side in order to do lefty mode? Not sure, but check it out in motion after the jump.

[VideoGamesZone via Neogaf]

KontrolFreek's FPS Freek Controller Add-ons Make Thumbstick Aiming Easier

Jason Chen — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:30:31 EDT

KontrolFreek, the company that made the SpeedFreek add-ons to the Xbox 360 controller that we reviewed last year, has a new accessory coming soon called the FPS Freek. It's essentially a snap-on to your controller's thumbsticks, which lengthens them and makes small adjustments in aiming easier. Why is this necessary? IGN Gear says the first 20% of the range of motion is the hardest because of spring resistance, which makes small tweaks to aiming especially difficult.

KontrolFreek also tells us that this product is legal in competition, but there's no notice released officially yet. If you pre-order, you'll get a 20% discount on the $9.95 for two and $17.50 for four. We haven't tested these ourselves, but IGN did take a look at an earlier prototype version and found that it did make the small aiming adjustments (in the first 20% range of motion) easier. We'll have to frag for ourselves. Their target release date is June 1. [KontrolFreek]

Xbox 360 HD DVD Officially $50, Still Discontinued

Jason Chen — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:10:52 EST

Even though the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on is discontinued, you didn't expect Microsoft to just give them away, did you? You did? Well then, this $49.99 liquidation price tag should be extra surprising to you. [Xbox - Thanks Daft Punk!]

Microsoft Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Officially Discontinued

Jason Chen — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 19:33:33 EST

It was only a matter of time before Microsoft officially discontinued manufacturing the Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on, but it took them a few days longer than we expected. Their statement is finally out, and it signals Microsoft's official withdraw from HD DVD on the console front.

The good news is that they'll still continue to support and repair your player based on the standard warranty, but chances are you'll get little future use out of that player now that no movies will be made for it. What's still unclear is whether there will ever be a Blu-ray add-on to the 360 that's cheap enough to sell the Xbox + Blu-ray package at a comparable price to the PS3 ($399ish). We're guessing that something along these lines will hit within the year. [Gamerscreblog]

Why Cheap Wiimote Add-ons May Be a Bad Idea

Jason Chen — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:50:56 EST

Perhaps Nintendo has a point when it refused Lucas Arts' permission to develop a bat-like lightsaber attachment for the Wiimote. After all, when you place the controller inside stuff like the 10 insane Wii weapons or a sword and a shield or a billiard cue or a boxing glove, it makes it hard to attach the safety strap to your wrist. And when you have no safety strap, you have what we see above.

Arkanoid For the DS Gets Paddle Controller

Jason Chen — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:00:56 EDT

Remember Arkanoid in the arcades and its weird paddle/knob controller you twisted to make the stick move around? Famitsu's revealing a Nintendo DS attachment for the game with a GBA Slot attachment that actually replicates the knobbiness of the original! The attachment will come in various Japanese DS colors, and will be available for an unspecified amount of yen. [Neogaf via DS Fanboy via Technabob]

Lightning Round: Kontrolfreek's Speedfreek Xbox 360 Controller Attachment

Jason Chen — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:20:20 EDT

The gadget: Speedfreek, an add-on from Kontrolfreek for the Xbox 360's left analog stick to make racing games easier to play by making the cars more precise to control.

The verdict: Pretty comfortable for racing games, because it allows you to use just the sides of your thumb to gently nudge the car left or right.

The catch:

It's not great for anything but racing games, because the plastic attachment on the bottom makes pressing down hard on the stick slightly more uncomfortable. Kontrolfreek is working on an adapter for other genres.

The performance: Good. I don't know if it made me any better at PGR, but it did make turns more comfortable since the grooved sides fit my thumb quite nicely.

The price: Pack of 2 for $9.95, or pack of 4 for $17.50.

The recommendation: If you're a racing fan who doesn't want to pony up for a racing wheel, this is a very cheap alternative.

[kontrolfreek]

Dealzmodo: Xbox 360 HD DVD for $130 or $149

Jason Chen — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 21:50:17 EDT

Or? Yes. Select Sam's Clubs are selling the Xbox 360 HD DVD drives for either $130 or $149, depending on where you look. We're not sure this is worth getting a Sam's Club membership for—especially if you're like us and already shop at Costco instead—but if you've already got one, hop on down and see.

Speaking of the drive, remember that Black HD DVD limited edition drive? We wonder if that's going to be released in the future to match the Xbox Elite. We think it will. – Jason Chen

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