On top of tilt sensitivity, vibration and Bluetooth (we believe the Wildfire is the first dongle-less third party PS3 controller), the Wildfire features variable turbo and a design that looks like it could cut you. The only downfall on the spec sheet is its requirement of 2 AA batteries...which is probably a dealbreaker unto itself.

Since feel is everything in a controller, we'll try to get our hands on one to test. Until then, the Wildfire is available for about $50 at various vendors. [Total Console]

Like its Cross Battle cousin, this adapter delivers the Dual Shock experience some gamers crave but cannot have on their Xbox 360 consoles. It also delivers, via an array of switches, custom turbo settings for every button on the controller.

Rumble is also supported, as well as a "tilt" switch, which we imagine is the Dual Shock's motion sensing functionality. So that's in there too, even if there aren't any Xbox 360 games that support such a feature. At the very least, you can't say the folks at XCM didn't cover all their bases with this thing.

Arrives in two weeks, with pricing that will probably be in line with the XCM Cross Battle adapter ($55). [SlashGear]

The Classic Controller Pro is essentially the Classic Controller beefed up with extra shoulder buttons, hand grips and more widely spaced analog sticks. While at first you figure the redesign is for N64 titles, the controller actually more closely resembles Sony's DualShock. From a button standpoint, it's identical.

There's no word on price or international availability, but we assume the Pro will cost a bit more than the $20 Classic Controller...err...classic. [Kotaku]

The first instance comes from a 12-year-old Swiss girl who had sores on her hand from playing way too much. The doctor first thought she had "idiopathic eccrine hidradenitis", a condition that affects both the hands and feet. After 10 days of laying off the sticks, she was fine and her doctors got to name a new disease.

We expect the Wii will get its own disorder some time in late 2009 or early 2010. [BBC via Kotaku]

Image credit

The adapter plugs into your PS3's USB port where it accepts wired Xbox 360 controllers. Beyond mere "it works!" functionality along with new rumble support, you can also toggle turbo on any button—which is why the unit has like a thousand switches.

The XCM Cross Battle Adapter is available at a few online retailers where it appears to be selling for about $55. So the question is, just how much do you hate yourself, fanboy? [XCM via Maxconsole]

This Geocities page (wait, what?) has the download links, and this forum has English instructions on how to get it working. It works in XP/Vista, and theoretically should work on Windows 7 as well, but who the F knows. [Crave Asia via 3g iPhone Hacks via CNET]

The 3-in-1 Wireless Keyboard is first and foremost a Blu-ray remote, but it also appears to be a slider of sorts, packing full QWERTY and—if our eyes are telling us correctly—dual analog sticks.

Especially for BD-Live content, the keyboard could make all of the text entry a lot more convenient than even Sony's own QWERTY option. And dual analogs? Really? The PSP doesn't even have that!

We really wish there were more to the product's description, but if you're willing to make a gamble with $28.52 of your hard earned cash, let us know how it goes. [Superufo via Kotaku]

The first is exclusives. Final Fantasy 13 coming to the Xbox 360 was a pretty huge blow to the PlayStation brand seeing as they no longer having exclusivity to the main Final Fantasy line. This is just the latest in the line of Sony losing titles that were previously exclusive (or planned to be exclusive) to PlayStation. Grand Theft Auto, Devil May Cry are two more recent ones, but Wired also lists Assassin's Creed (could have been PS3-only), Virtua Fighter 5, Beautiful Katamari, and Fatal Inertia. What does Sony have of big third-party exclusives? Metal Gear Solid 4.

This, as we learned from Sony's Jack Tretton, is because they're "not in the business of writing checks for exclusives." Jack goes on to explain quite logically that in this day and age, it's just much more profitable for game publishers to put their titles on as many consoles as possible, and companies would have to throw out some big chunks of money to convince them otherwise. The kind of money Microsoft has been doling out.

The second is Home. Tretton called the current state of Home a "no man's land," a phrase which he immediately wished he didn't use. However, it's as accurate of one as we could come up with. The problem right now is that Sony's at an impasse. They've finished the shell of Home and much of the core functionality is done. However, there's no content for it.

Maybe the best part is that the right analog stick has been mapped with the D-Pad buttons. So while it's still not quite perfect for an FPS, it feels better than the alternative. Damn I wish the PSP had two analog sticks. [acidmods]

The Price: $54.99

The Verdict: Fantastic. It's what the PlayStation 3 controller should have been at launch. You don't realize how much you're missing rumble until you actually get it back. We tested it with Folklore, Resistance, Super Stardust HD and Heavenly Sword and all of them behaved just like rumble should. It vibrated when you blew up ships in Stardust, when you shot and got shot in Resistance, and when you whipped out your little demons in Folklore.

We didn't have the time to play through the entire game(s) to see if there are tons of different varying levels of intensity—say, if some cut scene started with a gentle vibration that ramped up to something crazy—but we've been hearing online that it does.

The DualShock 3 is also heavier than the SIXAXIS—still slightly lighter than an Xbox 360 controller—but definitely heavier. It feels right, not like the feeling you got from the SIXAXIS that someone hollowed out your controller while you weren't looking.

It might not be worth your $54 if you already own a SIXAXIS and don't need another controller, but if you're a big gamer that really loves the PS3 (and is waiting for Metal Gear Solid 4), it's a good idea to invest in one. There's a list of games that currently support rumble, which will most likely be supported by just about all games released from now on. [Amazon]

- SCEA - Formula One Championship Edition* (PS3)
- SCEA - MotorStorm* (PS3)
- SCEA - PAIN (PSN)
- SCEA - High Velocity Bowling (PSN)
- SCEA - MLB 08: The Show (PS3)
- SCEA - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
- SCEA - Resistance: Fall of Man* (PS3)
- SCEA - Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3)
- SCEA - Go! Sports Ski* (PSN)
- SCEA - Folklore* (PS3)
- SCEA - Heavenly Sword* (PS3)
- SCEA - Warhawk* (PSN / PS3)
- SCEA - Super Stardust HD* (PSN)
- SCEA - Snakeball (PSN)
- SCEA - Toy Home (PSN)
- SCEA - PSOne Emulation (PSN)
- SCEA - Piyotama (PSN)
- SCEA - PixelJunk Monsters (PSN)
- SCEA - Blast Factor* (PSN)
- Sega - Condemned 2: Bloodshot (PS3)
- Ubisoft - Lost: Via Domus (PS3)
- Ubisoft - Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2* (PS3)
- EA - Burnout Paradise (PS3)
- KOEI - Dynasty Warriors 6 (PS3)
- Capcom - Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
- Atari - Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit (PS3)
- Disney Interactive - Turok (PS3)

I've played that Lost game on 360, and let me tell ya, the rumble adds nothing. [PlayStaton Blog]

[MTV via Kotaku]

The thing to remember here is that, as a kit, the $750 Lynxmotion BH3-R doesn't have all the polish of a retail product, but it leaves the platform open to robot enthusiasts.

Windows software allows you to customize movement over its basic programming that only supports multi-directional, multi-speed movement and 360-degree spins. Maybe you'd like your robot to do the robot, accomplishing feats of engineering that even Bender cannot fathom.

And after that, you can train it to hexa-fist beer and really subvert mankind's progress. [product via botjunkie]