Technology

Nintendo will be releasing several USB devices for their Wii console. They have released advertisements on their websites asking for a hardware/software tester that can will work out of the company’s Redmond offices in Washington State.

Among the successful applicants duties will be: “creating and executing a test plan for Wii’s USB devices.” Our first thoughts were a USB hard drive, but Nintendo has repeatedly denied claims it was even considering one. Earlier today, we reported that Nintendo of Europe’s managing director had dismissed the hard drive space as an issue only “geeks” were interested in.

A team of Japanese scientists were able to give a paralyzed man the feeling of how it would be if he could walk again. The man – who has not walked over 30 years – volunteered for an experiment at the Keio University in Japan.

In the experiment the man put on headgear that had the ability to sense brainwaves that were connected to his legs and arms. He was able to ‘walk’ again by imagining it as a character in Second Life – a very popular virtual world.

Even though it seems the public opinion of the Xbox 360’s quality of hardware isn’t the best, Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, they still showed profit for their 3rd quarter. The division obtained operating profit of $89 million, and there was a growth of 68% revenue for the quarter over same period last year. This was due to the high call for Xbox 360 consoles. In addition to the extra console sales, video game sales, and Xbox Live sales, Xbox platform and PC game revenue grew 85% that’s $418 million.

The console gauntlet has been thrown and for a while now many gamers and game developers have been debating over the PS3 and the Xbox 360 which of the two will rise to be the champion console.  

The PS3 has superior processing power with alot more potential but that hasn’t really slowed things down because, until late, the Xbox 360 still had enough to keep up. On top of that, it was much easier for game developers to code games for the Xbox as it was an older platform and had more memory (specifically bandwidth, alot more). Well, that’s not going to be the case much longer…

It has been going on for several years now and will continue to be a thing that will not end. Manufacturerss develop and sell game consoles as loss leaders so that they will be able to profit from larger margins on the software at a later time. Sony spent hundred and millions of dollars to help develop the Cell processor for the PS3 from the bottom up. Unfortunately they were unaware just how much they would be spending.

Nintendo has decided to take things to the next level of technology when they announced to the world that they are working on a camera peripheral for the Nintendo DS. They will be using a flagship game that is designed to help improve the skin quality.

The camera will come with a game titled “Face Training”, which will take users through various face exercises.  The game will prompt users to go through various facial gestures designed to help make their skin more elastic, reports Wired.

xBox 360 has decided to add more things to the line-up this year. It seems that Microsoft has created a Text Input Device, which will enable gamers to chat with their friends on Windows Live Messenger. This input device is simply a clip on keyboard and is going to be released this summer.

Sony stated to the news that they will be cutting the price of the PlayStation Portable handheld game from $199 down to $169. Sony was expected to make this move after the close of its fiscal year. This move will apparently weaken the Japanese companies. Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, stated in an interview that Sony has sold and shipped more than 25 million PSPs to stores now and the high volumes are allowing it to become more efficient in manufacturing.

Australian Nintendo Wii owners are excited to know that they will be able to compete against each other online for the first time in June. However, none of the existing titles will support internet play and only two forthcoming games have been announced as having online multiplayer capabilities. Today Nintendo announced it had partnered with GameSpy, a division of Fox Interactive Media that specialises in multiplayer gaming technology, to bring online play functions to the Wii.

Sony’s PS3 hasn’t been doing as well as was hoped. With all the competition out there it’s acctually no surprise to us. One of the main problems that they have been having is the fact that it hasn’t been getting enough publicity…until now.