Wii

Serious - or simply spoilt - gamers looking to enjoy motion-based gaming on all three current-generation consoles from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have no doubt discovered that finding room for the various motion sensing peripherals on or around the TV can be a bit of a problem. The TriMount from videogame accessory company dreamGEAR addresses this by providing a home for the Xbox 360's Kinect sensor, the PlayStation Eye, and the Wii's sensor bar. Read More

Nintendo took the wraps off its new Wii U console at E3 today, sporting a controller as unique as we've come to expect from the company that brought us the Wii and the DS. With a 6.2" touchscreen, dual-analog sticks, D-pad, four face buttons, four triggers, front-facing camera, microphone, and motion controls (gyroscope and accelerometer), it's safe to say we'll see some innovative game mechanics invented to make full use of this thing. Read More

Nintendo will show a playable model of the next-generation Wii gaming console at E3 Expo in June. The company confirmed the reveal date in a short statement earlier today and although there's still no official word on exactly what the successor to the Wii (codenamed “Project Cafe”) holds in store, the rumors are gaining momentum. Read More

Can killing monsters help physically-challenged children learn to walk? It can if they’re virtual monsters, that are part of a balance-developing system created by engineering and computer game design students from Houston’s Rice University. Called the Equiliberator, the system consists of five linked Wii Balance Boards with two pressure-sensitive hand rails running along either side, all of which are linked by Bluetooth to a PC running a custom-designed video game. Children using the setup are able to kill on-screen monsters, by successfully performing exercises that build their balance skills. Read More

The arrival of viable wireless charging solutions has given us the opportunity to pull the plug on devices like mobile phones and personal media players (with televisions and electric vehicles next in line). Game controllers are another obvious candidate for this technology and BLAZE's latest offering joins the ranks of wireless-charging solutions for the Nintendo Wii remote. Read More

Here's a very clever hack of a Wii Balance Board from engineer Ryo Yamamoto that was on display at Tokyo Make Meeting 06 this past weekend. Mr. Yamamoto's "Diet Chair" is essentially just a regular chair, but with a Wii Balance Board sitting underneath the seat. What's smart about this is that it allows the chair to send feedback to the computer where the user's weight can be monitored over time. Read More

Imagine the embarrassment of a talented guitarist losing out in a shredding battle with someone who can't play a note. Since the launch of games like Rock Band, such things can and do happen. Now there's a chance to level the playing field somewhat, with the forthcoming release of a game controller that's also a genuine Fender Squier Strat. Of course, as well as introducing a whole new level of gameplay to virtual axe grinders, they can also benefit from learning to play an actual instrument. Rock 'n' roll... Read More

In the creation of the film Avatar, director James Cameron invented a system called Simul-cam. It allowed him to see the video output of the cameras, in real time, but with the human actors digitally altered to look like the alien creatures whom they were playing. The system also negated the need for a huge amount of animation – every performance was captured in all its blue-skinned, pointy-eared majesty as it happened, so it didn’t need to be created from scratch on a computer. Now, researchers from the University of Abertay Dundee have built on the techniques pioneered by Simul-cam to create a new system, that lets users act as their own cameraperson within a 3D environment. Read More

Nintendo has done very well out of its innovative motion controllers but maintaining its spot at the top of the console sales charts was always going to be an uphill battle once rivals caught up (or overtook) with their own brand of fully-interactive gaming. Project Natal seemed a little ambitious when it was first demonstrated last year, but 12 months and a rebranding later, Kinect appears to be ready for pre-order and most importantly, we have a price. Read More