GadgetReview

The Star Wars Snuggie might be fake as shit, but the Street Fighter VI Snuggie, yup, it’s the real deal.  Capcom won’t say if it will be bursting onto Walmart’s endless stack of shelves but at least die hard gamers and deuce bags can find some common ground.

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Zune HD owners rejoice.  Crickets?  Microsoft has recently announced that a batch of new 3D games is now available at the Zune MarketPlace.  For Free.  That’s right, the following games are available now for free:  Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition, Audiosurf Tilt, Vans Sk8: Pool Service, Lucky Lanes Bowling, Piano, and Checkers.

Totally cool for free right!  Hopefully this will help Microsoft move some units this holiday season, but  having not yet seen an actual Zune HD in person, I’m interested in how good the gaming will be on this thing. If you are a Zune HD owner and download these free games and let me know just how 3D they actually are!

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It’s too soon to tell how well Tony Hawk’s newest skateboarding game, RIDE will do this holiday season, but if you’ve got plans to purchase the game no matter the fan fare, you might wanna grab Walmart’s exclusive version for the Xbox 360.  The board is finished an an oh-so opulent red and costs the same as the normal version, $119.

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According to MCV gaming site, Microsoft’s Project Natal will launch next November for as little as $80 (we heard $50 last month). The rumor also says that Microsoft will kick out a console bundle that includes the Natal camera and perhaps a few games to go along with it.  As of now 14 games are supposedly being readied from a variety of studios, while Microsoft is preparing 5 million unit for shipment during the initial launch.

Project Natal was announced at this year’s E3 and was received with mixed reactions from the gaming and gadget community.  The system uses a special camera to read your body gestures and objects, and then incorporates them into the game, providing a more engaging gaming experience, or that’s how the marketing material goes.  The Natal is Microsoft’s answer to the Wii, while Sony has their own version arriving early next year as well.

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Yesterday Infinity Ward had released a patch to alleviate the problems that players were having with Trophies.  Since that patch, Multiplayer has gone down and is unplayable at the moment.  Ahhhh!!!  That sucks.

I’ve been having a stellar time playing MP on my 360 and I’m glad there are no hiccups there.  According to IF’s Robert Bowling Twitter feed, another patch will be available on Friday that will effectively patch the bad patch.

What day is it?  Wednesday?  The patch is on Friday?  Wait.. this just in…Activision is stating that the multiplayer issues are unrelated to the IW patch and that they don’t have a “hard” ETA as to when their servers would come back up.  I’ll say it again.  That sucks.

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The hay day of the original NES might be far behind us, but that didn’t stop one modder from bringing a little of the old to the new.  Called the NEStickle, it combines the NES console from the 80s with a Sanwa joystick and is apparently compatible with not only an Xbox 360 but a PS3, PS2 and whole slew of computers.  Oh, and to connect the controller to your gaming machine of choice, it comes by way of a custom USB cord that jacks into the NES’ controller port.

[via Geeky-gadgets]

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War.  With the onset of this weeks Veteran’s Day and the release of Modern Warfare 2, Activision is set to donate $1 Million to create a new non-profit organization to assist war veterans and soldiers find jobs and mesh back into society.

Formed by a multitude of retired vets, the Call Of Duty Endowment or CODE is a great idea and a thoughtful way to pay tribute to this nations war heroes.  Finally being quoted in a positive light, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick had this to say to the Washington Post:

“The joblessness rate that [veterans] should have should be far less than the national average, not more.” “How do you expect people to actually join the military if when they leave the military they can’t integrate back into the free market they’re supposed to be protecting?”

Well put Bobbo.  It’s nice to see this type of thing take shape around what most civilians take for granted everyday.  Freedom.

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This is a portable Game Cube from maker extraordinaire Hailraser.  He’s used a variety of components from a variety of systems to build this system.  The oddest part, though, is the exposed disc drive on the rear of the device.  So, if you’ve got large mitts you might find your finger on the wrong end of a spinning disc.  Actually he says it’s harmless, but I’d beg to differ when it comes to an infant’s finger.

Video after the ‘leap’ …Continue reading: Portable Game Cube With Exposed Disc Drive (video)

Remote the iControlpad, the accessory that turned your iPhone into a real deal portable gaming machine?  Well they’re back, and this time around they’ve gone bigger, bolder and more powerful.  More powerful you say?  Yup, this version has a built-in battery that chargers your iPhone as you hammer out levels of TapTap Revenge, or in their case Mario Kart.

According to the maker, the feedback they got from the first iteration was that it was too cramped.  And then they realized they’d have to produce a different version for each new iPhone.  While I don’t know if this iteration will accept every iPhone currently on the market, its larger size definitely gives way for physical ‘inserts’ to allow for such a feat.

And yes, those are two analog sticks that you’re seeing.  They’ve got access to the parts used on the openPandora handheld.  Can you say ’see you later’ PSPGo?

There is no word on a release date, but let’s just hope they make it foldable for greater portability, because right now it’s looking a bit too fat.

Video of it in action after the ‘leap’ …Continue reading: iControlPad Controller For The iPhone Now Bigger And Badder (video)

Ok, I’ll be honest, best I can suss out from the press release is that Thrusmaster’s T-Freestyle NW gaming board is a piece of wood with rubber bumpers that works in concert with the Wii Balance Board to produce a RIDE like experience for current and soon to be released Wii snowboarding and skateboarding games.  And I don’t know what Rolling Motion Board technology is, but whatever ‘koolaid’ Thrustmaster’s marketing team is cooking up I want a sip of it.

It’s crafted of genuine maple and launches this holiday season (end of November) for $29.99. …Continue reading: Thrustmaster Intros Budget Friendly RIDE Experience