What would be the point to this? Kotaku points out that previous game systems like a Panasonic Q, which was the GameCube + DVD player, served to help bring in software money, but lower development costs for Nintendo because they don't have to spend effort making new hardware. In Microsoft's case, imagine what would happen if a company built an Xbox 360 with a Blu-ray drive. Eh? [EGM via Kotaku]

Just think, if Macbeth were a gamer, he might have said, "Is this a 16-bit cartridge which I see before me?" And then Shakespeare would have beaten the murderous Scottish witch-fancier to death with the MiWi, saying, "I said 'IAMBIC PENTAMETERS,' not freestyle, you stupid twunt." [Sportsgame via Technabob]

My first thought when this was announced last year was that I didn't need a piece of plastic to hold my Wiimote in place; I'd steer the controller by itself just fine. But last Thursday came around, and I approached the wheel cautiously, got comfortable, and even warmed up to the little white circle. While the game can certainly be played without the wheel, there's something that just feels right about holding it in your hands. There's more room to grip with your hands, and you're given a better frame of reference as to how much you're steering.

There is also an elongated, horizontal button on the back that acts as a mechanical proxy for the B trigger button on the underside of the Wiimote. Hitting the B button is a key part of the drift element in Mario Kart. Without the wheel, trying to hold the Wiimote horizontally in two hands while pressing the 2 button for gas and the B button for drift was a bit awkward. Not so much with the wheel in the hand.

However, the wheel took a little getting used to. I found myself oversteering at first, forgetting to steer later, and waving the wheel in strange directions (also exhibited in the above video by Kotaku's Michael McWhertor). But after awhile, I calmed down and found a sweet spot where I could play with a bit of skill. So the Wii Wheel may not be God's gift to racing control, but it doesn't make the experience any worse either. And as far as Mario Kart itself goes...go talk to Kotaku, they're the game freaks. [Mario Kart Wii @ Kotaku]

Well, today that's true, but what Sandy was talking about was cluster computing, the idea that down the line, all the brainpower for game consoles will be located remotely. Consumers will have low-power local units that'll just hook up to a display, which a huge, beefy server farm will run the games themselves and pipe them to you over a high-speed internet connection.

It's certainly an interesting idea, as it would stop requiring people to upgrade their PCs with the hottest graphics card and would allow developers to create games as demanding as they're able to power. However, it seems to me that we might still be a bit far away from the bandwidth that would be required for such a setup.

Is super-high speed internet really going to be widespread enough in 5 years for us to ditch local consoles altogether? While I think this idea will take hold and become the norm eventually, I'd be shocked if we didn't have one more generation of high-powered consoles that eschewed physical media. It'll be a stepping stone generation, but with current console lifespans looking to be pretty long and the bandwidth requirements for cluster computing gaming still pretty steep, that whole idea seems to be 10 years away at the very least.

What do you guys think? Are consoles doomed, or do we have a good long time to wait before they become obsolete?

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Forum members have already ruled out the possibility of it being a connection issue (higher bitrate DivX/XviDs stream just fine), and folks over at Tversity are saying it isn't a media server issue either — one guy apparently tested Tversity, Twonky Media and Nero Home Media. All are stuttering like crazy after the firmware update.

Other problems forum members have come across:
•10x, 30x and 120x speeds for MPEG2s stream at only 1/10 or so the usual frame rate (regular MPEG2 streaming works fine though)
•Skipping over unwanted content "became very hard to do"

What gives Sony? Don't you test this stuff out before releasing it to the public?

[PS3 Forums and TVersity Forums]

That was a major misunderstanding as JT was wrongly interpreted. Acer is not going to release any game console but the idea is to develop a high-end PC targeted at the serious gamer.

Since Nathan's Xbox was returned stark naked, his girlfriend left him, his pet dog didn't even recognize him and people on the street looked at him in disgust. (Probably.) Such was the change in Nathan's life, he could hardly bare waking up in the mornings. However, Microsoft saw this atrocity going on, and they sure fixed it:

Despite Bungie jumping (ha!) in and giving our man all of the following:

• Legendary Edition Helmet signed by most-if not all-of the studio staff
• Halo 3 Soundtrack (two disc) signed by Marty O'Donnell (with "DO NOT ERASE!" written under his name)
• Bungie Jacket
• Bungie T-Shirt
• Halo 3 Messenger Bag
• Two Halo 3 Limited Edition Wireless Controllers (one covenant, one human)
• Signed Halo 3 Faceplate and Skins for Xbox 360
• Four McFarlane Action Figures (MC, EVA Spartan, Brute Chieftan, Jackal Sniper)
• Halo Actionclix Preview pack (Target exclusive sticker on the front)
• Halo Actionclix Game Pack 4
• Halo 3 Wall Graffix
• Halo 3: Ghosts of Onyx Novel
• Halo Graphic Novel
• Halo 3 Wristband
• Halo 3 Hackeysack

M Nathan is, we presume, now back with his girlfriend, his dog loves him and people in the street can't wait to stop and chat with him. He's so cool, we want to be his friend. [Kotaku: 1, 2 and 3]

Well, according to our German pals at GameStar, James Wong was said to take issue with the fact that the current state of the console market relies solely upon closed and proprietary systems. He sees this as an opportunity for Acer to get in on some gaming fun, and they plan to do this by creating a console utilizing PC technology, which will be, wait for it, a completely open platform. Such a preposterous claim must be taken with a large, Everest sized mountain of salt, but it is interesting nonetheless. For now, we know nothing more, but watch this space for more information. [GameStar]

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Along with the higher processor yields, what's most attractive is the power/heat savings. These 45nm Cells use 40 percent less power than the current, 65nm Cell. Sure that's a power savings for customers, but it's also a major heat savings for designers. The PS3 may not have the red ring of death problem like we've seen in the Xbox 360, but a cooler, smaller Cell could fit in a cooler, smaller PS3 (requiring less fans, etc.).

And while Sony has already managed to nearly break even on their console production cost vs. retail prices, the impending redesign could help Sony cut a legit profit from hardware (or allow Sony to cut prices again, instead). We'll keep an eye out for the new chips, but unless they come bundled in a smaller or cheaper PS3, none of this will really matter to you anyway.

Note: that photo is of the old, fat, ugly, 90nm Cell. [arstechnica]

Tokyo, February 5, 2008 - Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ), a division of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) responsible for business operations in Japan, today announced that it would release PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3®) 40GB model in a new "Satin Silver" color in Japan on March 6th, 2008, at a recommended retail price of 39,980 yen (including tax). "Satin Silver" will also become available for DUALSHOCK®3 Wireless Controller at a recommended retail price of 5,500 yen (including tax). A new fine metallic "Satin Silver" is offered as an additional color to the existing PS3® (CECHH00 Series) line-up of "Clear Black" and "Ceramic White". Choosing from a broader selection of colors to match their lifestyle and preferences, users will be able to enjoy next generation interactive entertainment contents on Blu-ray Disc as well as via the broadband network at home.

Users will also be able to enjoy immersive game play experience on upcoming PS3 titles compatible with separately sold DUALSHOCK 3 Wireless Controller, including "Ryu ga Gotoku KENZAN!" (SEGA CORPORATION) and "echochrome" ※1 (SCE WWS). SCEJ will continue to further expand the PS3 platform with enhanced line-up of
PS3 systems and peripheral products.

[Kotaku]

Q: How much more reliable are the current generation of Xbox 360 than the previous designs? Original Xenon, Zypher and Falcon. I've heard that the failure rates for the current design is sub 10%. Much much better, but still too high imoh. And those designs haven't seen much life yet, so no one knows if that failure rate will hold.

Nintendo DS - 8,500,000
Wii - 6,290,000
Xbox 360 - 4,620,000
PlayStation 2 - 3,970,000
PSP - 3,820,000
PlayStation 3 - 2,560,000

PlayStation 2 - 41,120,000 Nintendo DS - 17,650,000 PSP - 10,470,000 Xbox 360 - 9,150,000 Wii - 7,380,000 PlayStation 3 - 3,250,000

The Spin The crucial moment in this ad comes early on, when the turtlenecked hubby fits the Hockey template on his TV. Both narrator and caption stress that the Odyssey works with any TV, a vital point given Magnavox's earlier bungling. The very first Odyssey spots in 1972 (unavailable, alas) showed gamers using a Magnavox color TV. This created terrible confusion: Many consumers assumed that the Odyssey was only compatible with Magnavox sets, and color ones at that. So though 80,000-100,000 consoles were sold in 1972 alone, Magnavox was actually somewhat disappointed with the Odyssey's performance; the company feared that, having burned through the early adopters, it would be hard-pressed to capture the interest of mainstream consumers. This commercial, then, is all about reassuring folks that, no, you don't have to ditch your beloved black-and-white RCA in order to enjoy a spirited game of Roulette or Football.

Counterspin Despite a quick remark that the Odyssey is fun for the whole family, this ad shows only an adult couple. And while it's hard to understand the mindset of folks who were alive during Watergate, was the Odyssey such a technological wonder that it could hold the interest of thirtysomethings for hours on end? As with the TI-99/4A previously discussed in this space, the Odyssey seems like it would most enrapture gamers in the grade-school demographic—even if we'd been born in the 1940s instead of the 1970s, it's hard to picture my wife and I settling down for a fun evening of Odyssey Geography. Of course, the console's outrageous price made it the sort of item that you probably didn't want Junior messing around with: The Odyssey (including six program cards) cost $100, which is around $480 in today's dollars. And you thought the PS3 was overpriced...

Mission Accomplished Tough to say, as the estimates for Odyssey sales are all over the map. Inventor and vid-game god Ralph Baer claims that 350,000 consoles were sold between 1972 and 1975, when the original Odyssey was replaced by the new (and streamlined) Odyssey 100. Contemporary newspaper accounts, however, put the overall sales at under 300,000. Even if Baer's figure is correct, however, the Odyssey is generally regarded as a failure—not because of the technology, but because of the marketing. The initial consumer confusion over compatibility was a huge obstacle; so, too, was Magnavox's insistence on selling its hardware exclusively through Magnavox stores. (Yes, such things existed before the majority of us were born.) Lastly—and most forgivably—the Odyssey's game designers thought that people wanted electronic facsimiles of real-world games, rather than gaming challenges that couldn't be replicated in meatspace. Magnavox corrected this in the late 1970s with its Odyssey 2, which eventually featured such games as Pick Axe Pete and Quest for the Rings, but by then it was too late: The age of the Atari 2600 had arrived.

Hype-O-Meter 4 (out of 10). Too little, too late to save the doomed Odyssey. And a better marketing effort might also have saved Magnavox from its somewhat ignoble fate as a low-end Philips brands (although the company did reportedly make a mint by filing patent lawsuits against the likes of Bally-Midway). I do, however, sorta dig the husband's haircut—very Downhill Racer.

(Huge thanks to Ohbutyet for posting the video.)

Brendan I. Koerner is a contributing editor at Wired, a columnist for Slate, and author of the forthcoming Now the Hell Will Start. His Hype Sheet column appears every Thursday on Gizmodo.

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On the uglier side, it only has 512 MB of RAM and integrated graphics, but seeing as this is a project machine, it's not that surprising. Be sure to check out the video run through below, and the full gallery over at [TechEBlog via Technabob].

First, by paying for a youth offender/delinquency rehab program it almost implies games are somehow at issue, or at the very least it furthers the connection in Focus on the Family types' minds, and gamers already get enough huff from those mouth-breathers. Second, special taxes like this are usually tacked onto things considered "vices," like cigarettes. And I mean really, MMOs are the only games that truly destroy people's lives like lung cancer, and they should be taxed and labeled appropriately. [Game Politics via Destructoid]

I'm too lazy to translate the whole thing, but there's some fun anti-Chinese ribbing in one of the little conversations when his editorial department asks the writer if he's sure it's not a Chinese Vii that's attracting the roaches.

The dig's familiar to me, 'cause when I lived in a heavily Chinese neighborhood in Japan, I got to hear from locals (Japanese ones, obviously) all the time about how I'd get robbed by dirty Chinese indigents and my apartment would be bug-infested before I blinked despite my bleach-loaded OCD clean routine. Okay! Totally irrelevant personal anecdote over. [BARKS (and image) via Destructoid]

The PS3's got green cred for a recycling program and Sony's toxic policy, while it and the "X-Box" (360?) take knocks for requiring their own power plants. The "X-Box" gets more red thrown on it for Microsoft's sluggish 2011 deadline for eliminating certain chemicals (PVCs and BFRs) from its wares. The Wii gets zeroes across the board again (for the same reasons as last time, nondisclosure) but nets a green point for a small energy footprint.

Sorry Greenpeace, but you aren't going to get kids' attention by using hackneyed versions of familiar game characters loaded up with a narrative that sounds like it was written by scabs for the writers strike hired for $1.50 in the bathroom of a truckstop and colored charts that don't really say anything about anything. And everyone knows form letters are worse than useless—if they were on paper, I'd have to give you an F for pointlessly wasting the life of a tree that would've been better used as firewood. [Clash of the Consoles]

What makes the LED arrangement so nice is the way the purple lights cross to highlight the disk drive and the green lights illuminate the rear fan. Kypes also included an additional SD slot in the back, a built in Game Cube memory card, and a new light for the load slot. Check out the video below for a better idea. Thanks L0rdNic0 [Acid Mods]

"It's been the longest, hardest transition in the history of the industry...Last Friday marked one of those points where you can say something's changed...Around the world, based on the data I've got, it was pretty clear that the transition is now over.

Really though, part of the reason the transition yawned into a two-year stretch is because Microsoft decided to jump the gun on everyone by about a year. It gave them an edge, true, but it also made the shift seem longer and more difficult than it really was because its own launch window was problem-ridden.

If you take last year's launch of the Wii and PS3 as the actual starting point, with all three on the market, the player with the most consistent difficulty since then has been Sony, but things are looking up for them post-$399 PS3 launch. (Nintendo and Microsoft have had their own share of problems, for sure.) Riccitello thinks it's all good now, anyway:

It looked like it might have been a two-horse race, but it's clearly a three-horse race...I think from this point, pleasantly for me, it's sort of fat city in the game industry.

If you do have the means, you will also have the high-output DLP projector with a 2000:1 contrast ratio and a native resolution of 1024 x 768 (1400 X 1050 max) to enjoy. There is also some decent power under the hood with the whole thing running on a "high-end PC" with AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ . Wow, it sucks being poor. [Product Page via Crunchgear]

1. Screw Blu-ray vs. HD DVD, it hurts the consumer. Cartridge technology is time-tested and probably even more expensive to produce—which the manufacturers will love.

2. You see that number on the FunStation cartridge? That's 1,000,000 buddy. And we can only assume that number accurately correlates with the number of games that come bundled with the system. And a million is like a bajillion times what the PS3 has out.

3. There's got to be a good, shady eBay listing that can come from this product, why not cash in early? Then take all that money and you can buy a real PS3 around FORTY $13.50 FunStation 3s...which you have to admit, would be awesome*.

(*Sony, we're totally joking. Please don't take Ratchet & Clank away. It would hurt us. Physically.) [product via ubergizmo]