You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December, 2006.
As reported by many websites and also noticed by us, there are lots of gamers out there that are trading their consoles. With the Holiday season firmly settled in, and three new consoles on the store shelves in the form of the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii, which one is the best is obviously up for debate.
We all know that the PS3 units production is pretty slow and there is a definite shortage of them. Wii consoles are also not very easily available and they quickly run out of stock. The online community is the best place for these gamers to exchange their consoles. Most of the people are giving away their brand new PS3 consoles for the Wii plus some cash on the side.
Some offers on Craiglist are for the exchange of two PS3s for a Nintendo Wii. Its not only that there are less number of PS3s on sale, the Wii is becoming harder to get hold off nowadays that its Sony competitor. Although most of these guys on Craiglist are resellers so we can’t make a huge deal out of it, but this is just some food for thought!
Tags: craiglist, nintendo wii, playstation 3
Jokes aside regarding the flying Wii remotes and using them as weapons to throw at each other, Joytech is preparing to release a rechargeable battery dock for your Wiimotes.
It will be called the Wii Power Station and will have two rechargeable battery packs for your Remotes. So you don’t have to waste your time to go to the store to get new batteries to continue gaming. Just after you finish with your games just launch it in the cradle for charging it. On the side there are holders for your Wii nunchucks to rest, nothing special.
The good part about the station is that you can either charge with your normal power supply or connect the Power Station to any Usb port, since it has got one popping out of it. This will surely make it easier for you to take your Wii to your friends place and enjoy some gaming!
The Joytech Power Station is due to be released in late January and is going to be given a price tag of 20 pounds, so closer to $40 dollars.
Tags: joytech, rechargeable battery packs, wii
We all know that the console companies like the ones selling the Xbox, PS3 and other higher end gaming consoles actually make a loss on each console in anticipation to cover up with the games sold and licenses profit.This although is not the case with the Nintendo Wii, as reported by a Japanese site, Toyokeizai they managed to get the break down of costs with respect to the parts included in the Wii. They zeroed in on the $158 figure for the console without the controller ofcourse.
Graphic chip $29.60
Central Processing Unit $13.00
DRAM $7.80
Optical disk drive $31.00
Power supply $11.30
Production cost $19.50 (No idea how they managed to get that!)
Total $158.30
So, we assume that the controller would cost not more than $30 considering that they sell the entire system for $195.99. This is ofcourse raw figures obtained from various sources and we are not adding up the taxes, machinery costs, advertising, shipping components, blah blah!
Tags: nintendo wii, optical disk drive, ps3, xbox
After the whole saga of the Wii controller flying out of the gamers hand we now have a ‘Class Action Lawsuit’ filed by Green Welling LLP against Nintendo Inc. There was a word from Nintendo earlier that they are willing to replace the Wii Controllers for people who may have damaged their controllers due to this problem.The Lawsuit is about how the strap for the Wii Controller is not competent enough to hold it to your wrist and on faster movements the controller left the user’s hand due to the strap breaking.
People have not taken kind to this and are demanding a replacement immediately, we still don’t know the truth if Nintendo is actually agreeing to replace these, but now they will have to appear in the Western District Court of Washington to defend this case or agree to the replace them immediately. The Lawsuit also seeks a possible refund to the customers who have bought the console.
Tags: No Tags
The popular Nintendo DS which was released this year is all set to get a face lift by the next year. These are just priliminary rumors that are doing the rounds that a newer version of the Nintendo DS is going to be announced in 2007.
Not a lot of details are known or thrown about but its unanimous that the next DS will surely have a bigger and better screen than its previous versions. At the moment the Nintendo DS comes with a 3 inch QVGA resolution display, but the reports are out that the next version is all set to carry a 3.8 inch screen with a better resolution.
Some people claim that they have spoken to a few reps from Nintendo and they say the new DS will be released in Japan as soon as February 2007. Now we don’t expect everyone to believe this but a bigger screen is definitely on the cards some time in the future.
Tags: japan, nintendo ds, qvga
We all know about ‘Metal Gear Solid’ and how it has always been a PlayStation exclusive. A few weeks ago the rumors were that the game would actually be launched for the Xbox 360, but then they were all cleared off after we got the word from Konami themselves that they are a PS3 title.
Now that was a few weeks back, and a lot of things can change but Nooz, a popular gaming site states that they have exclusive information from Konami themselves that they would be coming out for the Xbox 360 afterall. Daniel Boutros is the editor of Nooz, and in our experience he is pretty reliable and its not just another ‘exclusive’ for taking the limelight.
The reason behind the game coming to the Xbox is that the owners just don’t find it profitable enough to be an exclusive since there are fewer number of consoles to gun at. So lets just wait and watch for what is to happen to this, our first reaction is that this could well be true.
Tags: konami, metal gear solid, playstation, xbox 360
While I’m patiently waiting for father Christmas to bring me my Xbox 360 with Gears of War I have to make do with watching the trailers and reading reviews of this awesome looking game.
Wired News says :
“Why is Gears of War so insanely awesome?
Technically, it’s just the same old, same old. You’ve seen stuff like this a bazillion times before. Gears of War is yet another run-and-gun shooter in which you blunder through the post-apocalyptic boneyard of civilization, repetitively slaughtering a bunch of hulking, gibbering aliens.
And the game really is awesome. Indeed, it is staggeringly, derangedly so. I popped Gears of War into my Xbox 360 and sat in a cybernetic haze for three straight hours, emerging with my stomach in fist-size knots, so emotionally and cognitively depleted that I had to consult the instructions on the side of the box before I was able to cook a bag of microwave popcorn”
Tags: gears of war, xbox 360
For the followers of the infamous Legend of Zelda series, there’s a forthcoming release for Wii users to excite you about. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is reportedly coming out the last quarter of this year. This newest addition is tagged as probably the best of its kind that Nintendo ever came out with.
In an announcement made by Nintendo, the said game will come out in two different versions. One is for Wii while the other is for the users of Nintendo GameCube. As with other much awaited Wii games, Twilight Princess will utilize the innovative Wii controls together with the hyped-up Nunchuk accessory. Movements are controlled by Nunchuk while the remote is for aiming and firing weapons.
The lead character in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a wonderful young boy, Link. He is joined by other major characters which include Midna, Ganon, Colin, Ilia, Rakka and Toby, Hena and of course, Princess Zelda. The story revolves around Link, who was tasked by the mayor in their village to go to Hyrule Summit. In his journey, he entered Twilight Realm where he was eventually transformed to become a wolf, held captive in the castle. Through the aid of strange creature Midna, Link was able to escape. In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, we will witness Link as he transforms from a child to a teenager, and finally to a full-pledge adult going through numerous adventures and misadventures along the way. This is clearly a very enjoyable game not only for the young but for the young-at-heart as well.
If you enjoyed Trauma Center: Under the Knife, chances are you will likely get excited with the coming release of Trauma Center: Second Opinion.
The second in the infamous Trauma Center game series, this exciting game of missions and surgeries is going to be in the Wii system, using the revolutionary Wii remote control and Nunchuk accessories. Interesting enhancements will be included in the package, of course, to distinguish it from the original game. For one, because it uses the cool Wii remote, the controls can be maneuvered systematically to perform certain operating function. The same instruments are returning but the key in this game is quite surely the player’s depth in using the tools. An exciting addition to the tools which can be found in Trauma Center: Second Opinion is the Defibrillator. Surgical tools can also be controlled through the helpful Wii remote while Nunchuk joystick selects tools from the screen menu.
The yet unknown doctor’s mission is mainly to operate and reconstruct the patient’s bones, which will be aided by the stylish and useful Wii remote. Through manipulating the controls and pressing some buttons simultaneously, bone pieces should be put correctly in place. Previously, the operations were done on the torso while in this game, the focal point of the operation would be somewhere else. That is to give gamers the view on different aspects of surgery. That is why, for the surgeon wannabes, this game is a gem.
All in all, Trauma Center: Second Opinion is one way to challenge yourself and make you sweat.
Extremetech has a good guide on how to make your 360 run less-noisely.
“The Xbox 360 is one of the noisier console systems on the market, and the biggest cul-prit is the loud whirring of the optical drive during gameplay. We crack an Xbox 360 open to see if we can reduce the noise with a few minor adjustments.”