Toys & Gadgets

You know, we were surprised these Wii Remote appendages actually made it to the pre-order stage way back in April of last year, a feeling which slowly dissipated as they failed to make it out to real retail. Until now. The 2lb / 1kg Riiflex sleeves for your Nintendo-approved wand are ready to purchase, starting at a cent under $30, though the 5lb variety promised earlier is yet to make an appearance — perhaps it’s become yet another victim of the harsh, cutthroat economics of the Wii peripheral business. Anyhow, if you wanna take your Wii Fitness to the next level, the source link will get the set of two to your door with free delivery, though it might be a bit late in helping you shape up for V day.

Riiflex Wiimote dumbbells cease being a joke, now on sale originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been over two solid years since we first caught wind of this here gaming handheld, and while we were initially led to believe that finalized units would be in the hands of emulation junkies long before now, we suppose loyalists are finding that late really is superior to never. After months and months of “almosts,” the first wave of final Pandora handhelds are shipping out, with many community followers posting up unboxing shots as they come. We’re also expecting a flood of homebrewed applications to start surfacing as more of these filter out, so be sure and drop us a line if you discover and / or create something otherworldly. Plenty more shots in the links below — you know, if you’re still patiently awaiting the arrival of your own.

[Thanks, Paul]

Finalized Pandora handhelds start shipping, proves that dreams really do come true originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, this is disturbingly creative. Seriously, is there much more to say about this Kratos casemod? Well, Greek mythology and video game fanatics alike should be pleased yet horrified with this one. We certainly were. Video is after the break.

Continue reading Kratos casemod can bring ‘God of War’ to your desktop… if you really want that

Kratos casemod can bring ‘God of War’ to your desktop… if you really want that originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve now pretty much reached saturation point with OnLive demos, so it’s good to finally see an independent set of eyes poring over the service and giving us the lowdown on the actual user experience. Whether you call it on demand, streamed, or cloud gaming, the concept is remarkably simple — OnLive pumps games via a web browser onto your machine and gives you the full gaming experience without the need for all that pretty, but expensive hardware. PC Perspective’s Ryan Shrout “found” a login to the Beta program and has put together a very thorough comparison between OnLive and playing the games locally on the same computer. His conclusion is that latency issues at present make an FPS like Unreal Tournament unplayable, but slower input games like Burnout Paradise or Mass Effect give pleasingly close renditions of the real thing. We encourage you to hit the source link to see side-by-side video comparisons and more in-depth analysis.

OnLive Beta gets a preview, lukewarm approval originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 06:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s an interesting one. Siliconera has dug up what it claims to be a Japanese trademark for the term “Zii,” and contrary to what you may expect, the application wasn’t filed by Creative. We double checked the database, and sure enough, the paperwork went through on October 30th — which almost certainly means that this was more than just some day-late attempt to fend off the next-generation of KIRF Wii consoles. There’s obviously no way to tell what the Big N has in mind here, nor if this will cause any kind of friction between it and Creative, but we’ll certainly be keeping an ear to the ground for more. Who knows — maybe the Zii is that HD Wii we’ve all been clamoring for since November of 2006. Or maybe it’s nothing at all.

Update: We’ve done a bit more digging, and it looks as if this here filing may simply be a renewal of a 2006 trademark request. Moreover, we’ve found Nintendo trademarks in Japan for Cii, Bii, Oii and Yii, so it seems the company may just be on some sort of rampage in order to cover its tracks in one form or another.

Nintendo trademarks ‘Zii’ over in Japan, Creative is like ‘zaywha?’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How do you spice up the traditionally unexciting projector market? You take your finest laser projector, with its “infinite focus” skills, pair it with a weapon-styled motion controller, and you offer FPS gamers the opportunity to get out of their seats and perform their murdering sprees as nature intended. So Microvision thinks, and we’ve no doubt that the prototype being demonstrated over at the Intel Extreme Masters will be fulfilling a few fanboy dreams, but we’re more interested in how it all works. If you remember the GameGun (and who could forget that mullet?), this’ll be familiar territory: the projector reacts to movements of the controller so that the game view tracks your real world view, lending the experience a bona fide 3D feel. Microvision won’t spill the full details just yet, but a video demo awaits past the break.

[Thanks, Tony]

Continue reading Microvision’s PicoP laser projector meets rifle-shaped motion controller, mayhem ensues

Microvision’s PicoP laser projector meets rifle-shaped motion controller, mayhem ensues originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 03:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Yinlips YDP800 projector PMP teases your wallet with video

Yinlips YDP800 projector PMP teases your wallet with video originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back at E3 in June, we had a chance to check out the singular Peregrine glove — a wired elastic affair which allows you to configure 40 different combinations for gaming. When got tried one on, we found that fast-paced games might not be the Peregrine’s forte, but something like World of Warcraft could be a perfect pairing. The Peregrine, which runs $129, is available for pre-order now, which means that just about any day now we should start seeing these puppies in the wild. We can only hope!

Peregrine wired gaming glove gets pre-order status originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back at E3 in June, we had a chance to check out the singular Peregrine glove — a wired elastic affair which allows you to configure 40 different combinations for gaming. When got tried one on, we found that fast-paced games might not be the Peregrine’s forte, but something like World of Warcraft could be a perfect pairing. The Peregrine, which runs $129, is available for pre-order now, which means that just about any day now we should start seeing these puppies in the wild. We can only hope!

Peregrine wired gaming glove gets pre-order status originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whoever it was at Sony HQ that decided to pursue “military contracts” as a revenue source, kudos! Mere days after the US Air Force expressed interest in expanding its PS3 supercomputer, we’re hearing glorious Britannia’s Royal Navy has conscripted 230 PSPs into duty as revision aids for its trainee sailors. Loaded with maths and physics materials, the PSPs can be used in a bunk, have familiar controls for the young and mostly male recruits, and are considered pretty tough to break. The underlying reason for this move though is cost cutting: by making the training course more intensive, the Navy is saving on teaching time. Given that the UMD drive won’t come disabled — which is hoped to encourage the sailors to take better care of the device — the future this paints is of marines who’ve spent more time with a freebie handheld console than with a pro instructor, but have a great stable of captured monsters to show for it.

[Thanks, pankomputerek]

Sony PSPs enlisted as study aids by the Royal Navy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Nov 2009 21:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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