Xbox 360 Takes on the Nintendo Wii

September 5 is the date when Microsoft will officially cut the price of the Xbox 360 line of consoles in North America, following the cut in Japan earlier in the week.

The interesting thing in the press release that details the price cut is that it puts the emphasis on the Xbox 360 Arcade and on the way it offers the promise of social interaction. It reads “Imagine if friends and families had the ability to instantly watch movies from Netflix, live out their musical fantasies through “Rock Band 2″ (Harmonix/MTV Games) and “Lips” (iNiS Corp./Microsoft Game Studios), star in their own Hollywood classics with “You’re in the Movies,” or have the power to never miss the latest episode of “Heroes”  all from one device, starting at $199.” Note that they’re not promoting one hardcore game and they mention video streaming twice, which is kinda weird for what is mainly still a gaming console. Read More »

Live Your Life with PlayStation

This is certainly the day for announcements made by Sony. In addition to revealing a video rental service designed for the PlayStation 3, the company is also launching a few other initiatives that are designed to make its gaming console more attractive to other demographics than the “hardcore” gamer. The social aspect of the PlayStation Network is brought into focus in an effort to compete with the Xbox Live service from Microsoft.

While mentioning that the PlayStation 3 has so far shipped more than 12 million units all over the world, Kaz Hirai, President of Sony Computer Entertainment, revealed that this number is past the critical stage at which the company begins to focus on providing more content to its users rather than on extending the installed base at an accelerated rate. Additional content is intended to create loyalty amongst the player base. Read More »

Ultra-Rare Nintendo Game Up For Sale

A 1990 Nintendo World Championship NES cartridge is up on eBay with a “Buy-It-Now” price of $12,000. There were only 116 ever made, and this is one of 90 grey ones given to semi-finalists. Read More »

Wii, DS Wi-Fi USB Connector Discontinued

The (US) Nintendo Online Store shows a rather sudden and surprising statement coming from Nintendo, claiming that the Wi-Fi USB Connector used to connect the Wii and DS to the Internet (wirelessly) has been discontinued “until further notice.” Only those not owning a wireless router should be affected by the discontinuation of this product, while Nintendo themselves give Wii and DS users alternatives:

“The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector has been discontinued until further notice,” reads the statement up on the (US) Nintendo Online Store. “NOTE: The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector is NOT required to connect your Nintendo DS or Wii console to the internet using your high-speed internet connection. Read More »

Wii Sports Gets New Controllers

Wii Sports has cashed in, earned many BAFTA gaming awards, appealed to elder folks and now it’s ready to provide a revamped experience thanks to a new set of controllers which have just been released by dreamGEAR. The pack is called “Soft Sports Kit” and it includes a bat, racket and a club which will be available for as much as $ 34.99.

The controllers feature a snap-in design and they come bundled with a Wii cooling fan, which is rather odd, since the console has no known overheating problems. According to dreamGEAR, the joysticks are made “using a soft and safe material”, so in case you’ll drop the bat from your hand at full speed it will probably (not) smash that expensive flat screen TV. As long as Wii Sports keeps its appeal and popularity, such gizmos will always sell well, and the phenomenon can be compared to that created by the Guitar Hero mania. Read More »