Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

There were many gamer-friendly gadgets at this year’s CES but, due to technological limits and simple human exhaustion, we couldn’t quite get them all on Gadgetell.

Here a reduced version of the list I compiled for my local CiN Weekly column featuring the better gaming gadgets and announcements from CES 2007.  Read on for the list…

• Razer Reclusa gaming keyboard with gold-plated USB plug


• Razer DeathAdder gaming mouse


• Nyko WiiMote charger

• Nyko PS3 wireless controller charger (4 controllers at one time)

• Novint Tech.’s Falcon 3D controller, maybe the weirdest item I found. The pointed mouse floats on robot arms and gives back a bit of resistance so it feels like you are touching the items on your computer.


• Alienware m9750 laptop (bling and caching)

• TDVision Systems’ 3D visor that turns any 2D video into 3D


• Samsung’s Series 53 and 54 LCD HDTVs with increased viewing angles and extras ports for game systems.

• HotSeat Chassis with a metal frame, 23 in. LCD HD widescreen monitors and surround sound. Pricey but dern cool. Frame only kit is $600, full setup can cost $4000.


• PCGamerBike to power your PC and control avatars in compatible games. Coming next month for $1100. Mini version available now for $180.


• D-Box GP-100, the uber plush sound-sensitive chair that reacts to on-screen action. A hard sell for $15K,000.


• N-Gage will become a software package that will work with their NSeries devices and will not be a specific N-Gage branded hardware device (I confirmed this with Nokia).


• Zune will play games by July 2008


• Sony, besides the unfortunate PR blunder, won two Emmys and announced and agreement with Midway to offer more downloadable games.


• Nintendo was a no-show but Wiis were on display everywhere and they won an Emmy for their D-pad.


• Microsoft promoted Vista with the FPS game, Crysis, showed off the Xbox 360 controller working with a Vista PC, console and PC content sharing, a raise in the 50MB download cap on games and some Zune integration.

We kid you not. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences gave Sony a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award for the PlayStation 3’s Sixaxis controller at CES 2007.

The award is given for outstanding achievement in technical or engineering development. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past year or so, the PS3’s Sixaxis controller includes built-in motion-sensing technology that was added to the original Dual Shock controller.

Apparently, it’s NATAS that may have have been living under a rock. This award comes after the New York Times said the console “just isn’t that great,” and after Time Magazine declared the PS3 was a bust. But that’s just their opinion, right?

Perhaps, but let’s not forget that it was Nintendo that first came out with a motion-sensing controller at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show. Unlike the Sixaxis, the Wiimote has a rumble feature and has more motion-sensing capabilities.

According to GameSpot, the PS3 will also receive several other awards, like PC World’s 20 Most Innovative Products Award, the 2007 CES Best of Innovations Award, Sound & Vision’s Editor’s Choice Award, and Digital Entertainment Group’s Emiel N. Petrone Digital Innovation Award.

Let me get this straight: The Sixaxis, which was announced (*cough* ripped-off *cough*) months after the WiiMote, wins honors for so-called innovation?

Which company do you think should get innovation awards for their new consoles? Is it Sony or Nintendo?

*Editor’s Note: It appears that Nintendo and Sony both won the The Emmy Award for Peripheral Development and Technological Impact of Video Game Controllers (*phew*). Check the award list at EmmyOnline.com. Also note that the Nintendo controller is not named but the Sony controller is listed as the “Dual Shock” and not specifically the Sixaxis. Of course, that might just be an oversite. - PJ

Update: Christine Chin from NATAS tells us Sony has it all wrong. The award was for the original dual shock controller. Here is her message in full:

I understand you had contacted Cheryl Daly, Director of Communications at NATAS to confirm if Sony won for their PS3 controller. This is incorrect, Sony won for their dual shock analog controller. The award is from the Video Game Technology Group. It was nominated by our internal group and considered along with the Nintendo D-Pad both of which were considered Emmy worthy for the development of the generation of controllers that followed the classic joysticks.

I would like to confirm that Sony did not win for their PS3 controller, they won for their Dual Shock Analog controller.

Read [NYTimes] Read [Time Magazine] Read [GameSpot] Read [PCWorld] Read [CES Awards] Read [GamesIndustry] Award List [EmmyOnline]

• WiiTar (a motion sensitive musical controller through a PC)


• Vibrator (via GayGamer.net and SlashDong, of course created by crashing the Wii browser)—NSFW hack


• Wireless PC Mouse (A joystick emulation application - GlovePIE - uses the bluetooth in the WiiMote to control the mouse cursor in Windows XP)


• Wireless Mac Mouse


• RC car controller


• The Uber Controller (Controls home electronics through the WACI NX server emulated through a Nokia 770)

Although the Japanese game company has already begun its replacement program for the admittedly defective WiiMote wrist straps, a national class action lawsuit was apparently filed against the Washington-based Nintendo of America before the replacement program was announced. The lawsuit was filed on December 6, 2006, by class action lawsuit specialists, Green Willing LLP, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and contains language that alleges Nintendo violated the Consumer Protection Act by engaging in “unfair and deceptive practices” due to the “defective nature” of the straps.

The suit calls for an injunction that would require Nintendo to correct the defect (aren’t they doing that already) and “provide a refund to the purchaser or to replace the defective Wii remote with a Wii remote that functions as it is warranted and intended” (wouldn’t that be solved with the strap replacement?). The timing does seems to indicate that Nintendo responded by recalling the WiiMotes, though Nintendo has indicated that the lawsuit is “without merit” and they were taking action before they were alerted of the lawsuit. Hmmm…

Read [GameDaily] Read [Green Welling LLP]

Wii knew it was coming.... After teasing us for weeks on the Wii Shopping Channel with the promise of web browsing, Nintendo has finally announced that Wii owners will be able to download and use the Opera web browser for free beginning December 22, 2006. Wii owners will need to connect online with their game system to download the Adobe Flash-enabled beta version of Opera from the Wii Shop Channel. The WiiMote can be used to browse the web using Opera, allowing Wii owners to zoom into any part of the screen and type on an on-screen keyboard.

The full, final version of Opera is scheduled to be ready by the end of march 2007 and will remain free for Wii owners through June 2007. After that it will cost 500 Wii Points (about $5) to download the browser. Nintendo’s press release also mentioned that the free Forecast Channel will also go live on December 20, 2006.

Update:Added the image below as well as changed the title from saying that the Wii and Opera sing together to the Wii signs online with Opera.

Read [Opera] Read[Wii]

Read [Game Biz] Via [BBC News] Read [Nintendo]

While Nintendo lawyers are busy preparing to defend a lawsuit over a patent infringement allegation by Interlink, Nintendo’s cash registers in Europe have not stopped ringing. Nintendo’s CEO Satoru Iwata must be laughing all the way to the bank.

Who cares about who owns the design patent on the Wiimote? The Europeans certainly didn’t give a damn. Nintendo’s Wii sold out in Europe in less than a week, making it the fastest-selling home console ever. In fact, 325,000 units were sold in the first two days after the machines went on sale in the region on Dec 8. And Nintendo seems to be working around the clock to ensure steady supply across Europe, whose residents are in the shopping mood with Christmas just around the corner.

Thanks to the free publicity generated by Interlink’s lawsuit, Nintendo can now look forward to repeat success in more countries after similar success in the USA and Japan recently. Did I just hear another cash register ringing?

Read [Bloomberg] via [Techjunkeez]

Originally intended to be used for PCs, the patent describes their device as:

“[A] portable, trigger operated pointing device for use with an electronically responsive system, the pointing device comprising: a housing for location at least partly between a first finger and a thumb of a user’s hand.”

The diagram here (above) was one of several included in the Patent filing. If you ask me, it looks a heck of a lot more like Roku’s remote, though that doesn’t have any motion sensitivity.

Read [Kotaku] Site [Interlink]

The WiiMote, that wireless, motion-sensitive remote control game controller for the Wii, has a major flaw. It seems that the wrist strip that keeps the heavy, working part of the WiiMote from flying around the house and causing major damage is, well, breaking and allowing WiiMotes to… well, you know.

Nintendo’s president, Satoru Iwata, has acknowledged the potential problem which he attributed to people “… getting a lot more excited than we’d expected.” Iwata has promised to look into it and has not yet decided what to do if they do find a problem. Might we see a mass recall much like the original Xbox’s power cable?

Read [Home Media]

A video just popped up on digg showing the Wiimote being used to control the mouse pointer on a Windows laptop.  There is no chance this will EVER be in Nintendo’s plans for the device, but what’s a console without some homebrew goodness?

Via [digg]