Hardware

For better or worse, it looks like the so-called iControlPad is edging closer to reality -- or at least something really similar. According to a new image (and our limited Spanish translation skills), Belkin is actually looking to produce an App Store gaming controller, though we're still not entirely convinced that what we're seeing is legitimate. Whatever the case, the JoyPod would somehow, someway provide users who purchased Super Monkey Ball to play it using a bona fide game pad, though we ...

Remember that fad where everyone had dining room tables of their favorite Disney character? Or the age in the 70s where tables were shaped like lava lamps? No? At any rate, the modders over at SCAD Inc. have spent all summer crafting a fully-functional Super Nintendo controller-table, which reminds us an awful lot of the fully-functional NES controller-table we saw in May of this year. So, which geek is gonna take on the N64 controller table? Or better yet, the Virtual Boy?...

Be honest here, GoLive2's Stix didn't stand a chance at being taken seriously, and even when one reviewer attempted to have fun with the unashamed Wiimote knockoff, he failed epically. The Stix 200 looks strikingly like Nintendo's accelerometer-packin' controller, though this 2D-only rip was seen as "a set of slightly unresponsive, highly inconvenient arrow keys" rather than an exciting new controller. The PC games that can be played with the device are equally dreadful, and while the 3D-capabl...

Love your Wii but tiring of your standard control options? Looking for something that involves less arm swinging, feels a little bit more like an Xbox or PS3 experience, and loses that Classic Controller cable? Well the folks from Nyko are here for you, and they want to hold you all night long... and they brought the Wing. What's the Wing you ask? It's essentially a standard gamepad on highly concentrated crack-cocaine. The wireless controller features two analog sticks and a plethora of button...

Filed under: Ask Engadget, Gaming, LaptopsAlthough netbooks seem to be all the rage right now, there's still a lot of demand out there for laptops that are only able to be labeled as such due to their design. Take a look at Paul's question as he attempts to locate the best desktop replacement on the market today. "I am currently looking to replace my desktop PC with a high spec laptop. Portability isn't a concern as it will spend most of its life on a desk. Here are a couple of things I am look...

Filed under: GamingWell, it looks like all that experience Nintendo has half-explaining Wii supply issues isn't going to waste -- the company just issued a statement regarding shortages of Wii Fit that sounds awfully familiar. Seriously, follow along with us here: Wii shortages, Nov. 14, 2007: "The demand for Wii hardware globally has been unprecedented and higher than Nintendo could ever have anticipated." Wii Fit shortages, Aug. 28, 2008: "Nintendo had a substantial supply nationwide ...

Console modder Sam Thornley actually built this Pac-Man Mini handheld way back in 2007, but he only recently shared it with the members of Ben Heck's forums, and we're sure glad he did. There's nothing too special at the heart of this one, just a Jakks Pacific Namco Arcade Classic system, but Sam hit all the right marks with the little details, from the red buttons that are just itching to be pressed to the old school flip switch to the bigger-than-it-has-to-be casing. If you think you're up to...

It may not have produced quite the onslaught of news that Intel's recent Developer Forum did, but it looks like NVIDIA's NVISION08 conference was at least able to pull one big rabbit out of its hat, with NVIDIA itself dropping word that it's going to allow Intel's X58 chipset to natively support SLI. For those not following the ins and outs of the NVIDIA / Intel relationship, NVIDIA had previously said that it would let its nForce 200 chip to be implemented by board manufacturers to allow SLI s...

While there's likely nothing that will convince most folks of the merits of a full-size, $180 wooden guitar controller, those still on the fence about this particular piece of excess may be interested to know that the good people of PS3 Fanboy recently got their hands on one, and they've now offered up some initial impressions. As you might expect, they found it to definitely be a hefty device, but far from an unwieldy one, with the buttons as familiar as even and the strum bar in particular a ...

Immersion, the company that owns virtually every vibration and haptic tech on earth, is getting a taste of its own medicine now that it owes Microsoft $21 million. You may remember back in 2003 when Microsoft floated an unknown sum of cash in the direction of Immersion in order to include patented vibration technology in its Xbox 360 controllers. Around the same time, Sony told us all that we don't need no stinkin' vibration and passed on paying up. Last year, though, Sony bowed to customer pre...

While it seems to be all but a sure thing that all three Xbox 360 SKUs will be getting a price cut on September 7th, if you need a bit more reassurance, you can now take comfort in this apparently authentic Best Buy ad provided by a helpful tipster, which should be making an appearance in paper form just in time for the big day. Just like Radio Shack's, this one lists the Arcade, Pro and Elite for $199, $299, and $399, respectively, and, unsurprisingly, there's no mention of a motion controlle...

Correct us if we're wrong, but the Lian Li XB01 chassis for the Xbox 360 marks a notable departure for the case mod industry. Far from making the 360 "more badass" or "more laptopy," the Lian Li XB01 merely aspires to make the 360 what it should've been out of the gate: cool and quiet(er). The folks at bit-tech.net put one through its paces, and have discerned that it "looks pretty pimp." They do note that the $150 case isn't built with quite as high of standards as Lian Li is known for, and th...

We caught a glimpse of GamePark's new Wiz GP2X / GP3X handheld a month or so back, and the homebrew-friendly black-and-red unit is now available. $179 of your American dollars is all it takes to enjoy the 2.8-inch QVGA OLED screen, 533MHz ARM9 processor, 64MB of RAM, 16GB of flash, and 5 hour battery life -- not to mention a Flash 7 player, MPEG4, xViD and DivX compatibility and new games scheduled to hit every month. Dynamism say these'll start shipping on October 8th -- anyone throwing down?R...

Let's try not to read too much into this one. Here are the facts: two dweebs thought it would be a good idea to hook up treadmills to their PCs, don brightly-colored wigs and cardboard swords, and race their avatars across about a mile of virtual turf by jogging in place with only a modicum of coordination and zero athletic ability. The folks at Mana Energy Potion were complicit in the event, which failed to prove treadmill gaming is a good idea, but made great strides in proving just how low W...

Move over, Child's Play -- well, don't move over, keep being awesome -- there's a another outfit in town looking to bring the joy and life long addiction of video games to hospitalized children. The Starlight Starbright foundation has been teaming up with Nintendo for over 15 years to bring games to hospitals, and the latest effort of the team up is the Wii Fun Center, a $4,250 unit which includes a Wii "costumized for hospital use," a Sharp AQUOS LCD and a DVD player. Lest you think somebody i...

It's been at least an hour since Sony has released a new PlayStation 3 SKU, so our friends at Joystiq took the time to take a breath. In that moment, they came up with a handy -- and somewhat startling -- chart that explains which PS3 model has what, including Cell chip size (the more efficient and quieter 65nm vs the older 90nm), USB port count, pack-in freebies, and which ones have PS2 backwards compatibility. It's charts like that that remind us that no currently-shipping PS3 comes with HD v...

For Roomba hacking extraordinaire longjie0723, it's just another day in the office. Grasping for one more way to control the circular vacuum with something video game-related, he keyed in on the Wii Balance Board. Granted, he's already had success controlling the Roomba with a Wiimote, so we assume that whipping this one up was a lesson in simplicity. We still can't really understand why this here hack is necessary, but unlike decisions made by publicly traded companies, independent DIYers don'...

The next Xbox 360 Dashboard update promises to be a big one, with a totally revised menu system, Netflix support, and Wii-like avatars, but so far Microsoft's kept mum on when it's coming -- but we'd circle November on your calendars for now, since that's what MS UK apparently told the crew at RPG-TV. It's still not official official, but at least now you have something to look forward to in November besides awkwardly hanging out with people from high school over Thanksgiving....

Hey, remember that totally bodacious PlayStation 3 wireless keypad we told you about last week? Well if you do -- and you should -- you'll be pleased to know that you can now pre-order the $49.99 accessory at Amazon. Sure, you'll still have to wait till Novemeber 30th to get your hands and fingertips on it, but at least you can sleep at night, safe in the knowledge that it has your name on it....

We saw a couple versions of the iControlPad iPhone gamepad surface back in May, but it looks like the clever add-on is getting close to reality -- check out these case prototypes that just popped up. Yeah, it's not, uh, small -- good thing the target price is under $30. Touch Arcade also has some other pictures of another iPhone gaming accessory that looks like it slides open, check it out at the read link....

Filed under: GamingThere was (and still is) plenty of buzz surrounding StreetskaterFU's recent hack that enabled Blu-ray games to be played back from the PlayStation 3's internal hard drive, and now it seems like details are beginning to seep out. Fellow hacker ATOC has released an admittedly sketchy step-by-step guide for getting a number of backups to boot from the PS3, though it has only been thoroughly tested on Warhawk and Call of Duty 3. Hit up the links below for instructions, but think l...

Rock Band 2 might not be out yet, but ION was kind enough to send us the new Drum Rocker Premium Drum Set a couple weeks early. Built like a tank, this thing makes the original Rock Band drum set look like the toy it is -- we're talking aluminum tube construction that apes traditional electronic rack kits, soft trigger surfaces that register velocity, and quarter-inch connections that'll make modding a dream. Of course, all that heft means that set-up took over an hour and it eats up just about...

Filed under: Gaming, PeripheralsYou've got to love it, don't you? The prolonged hatefest between Intel and NVIDIA is continuing on today, with Andy Keane, general manager of the company's GPU computing group, delivering the latest blow. While speaking to reporters at the outfit's headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, he was quoted as saying that there is still "an incredible amount about Larrabee that's undefined." Furthermore, John Mottram chimed in by suggesting that "as...

Today's generations of gee-whiz graphics and analog controls have brought with them one unfortunate addition: beefy, expensive wireless controllers that we're loathe to dash against the floor or to bash against an adjacent sibling. The creatively-termed "USB Metal Game Pad" from Dream Cheeky is just what it says on the box, doing your basic assortment of SNES-era joypad work with some USB pluggability and Mac / PC compatibility, but being conveniently built out of metal. Sure, it looks shoddy a...

Filed under: GamingLast we heard, it was still up in the air somewhat as to whether upcoming PlayStation 3 consoles would house the elusive 65-nanometer RSX graphics processor. According to a curious buyer of Sony's newest 80GB unit, there is a smidgen of data that hints at a 65nm chip actually being under the hood. By using the oh-so-scientific Kill-A-Watt, he discovered that his older 40GB PS3 sucked down 125.8-watts when idle, while the fresh 80GB edition ate up just 111.9-watts. The findings...