Gaming

Canada hasn't had capital punishment for nearly 30 years, but a Manitoba judge may have come up with a worse penalty--holding a teenager's video game console hostage.

The Toronto Globe and Mail reports the unusual punishment was handed down by Judge Krystyna Tarwid, of the Provincial Court in Brandon, to an unnamed 14-year-old convicted of two counts of assault and theft.

The judge decreed the court will hold the teen's game console (the newspaper said it's a PlayStation, but we assume they meant PlayStation 2) until he completes the terms of his one-year probationary sentence, which … Read more

"The information below is therefore subject to change."

That's the understatement-of-the-week disclaimer on a trio of product pages at the British arm of Amazon offering a mix of rumor and speculation on next-generation game consoles.

As noted by our compadres at GameSpot, the pages vary in factual grounding, with the one for Microsoft's next Xbox perhaps being the most fanciful, rehashing rumors covering everything from the system's name to storage options.

Thankfully, the Amazon crew doesn't hazard a guess at price or availability, meaning no advance orders. But, "we'd be glad to … Read more

To date, PSP hacks have mostly been a sorry little collection of tricks that confirm the sleek little game player needs a proper Web browser. But you've gotta be impressed with hacker LiquidIce's hijacking of the PlayStation Portable's built-in WiFi receiver to turn the device into a universal remote control.

Using a home automation server, basic PhotoShop skills and an ungodly amount of spare time, LiquidIce gave his PSP a rather elegant interface through which he can control his DVD player, HDTV set and TiVo, as well as turn lights on and off.

"My next step … Read more

Leading game publisher Electronic Arts will give the world an early look at the future of video games with a sneak peak at a version of its "Madden NFL" created for next-generation consoles.

EA said it would show the "Madden" preview during a 60-second commercial at 9 a.m. (Pacific time) April 23 during ESPN's broadcast of the NFL draft. The publisher didn't say which next-gen console would be previewed, but the obvious choice would be the next Xbox, which game developers have been working on for many months.

Microsoft is set to debut … Read more

We're not even trying to keep up with the next-generation Xbox rumors anymore, but we do feel compelled to call out a few recent ones.

Like the fact that, even though nobody knows for sure what all Microsoft is going to stuff in there, it's pretty certain that WebTV won't be on the list. Because Microsoft hasn't had a product with that name in, oh, three or four years. And the MSN service that replaced the old WebTV hasn't exactly been rocking Microsoft's balance sheet lately.

Also, if Microsoft was going to call the … Read more

Elijah Wood is still learning to pronounce "teraflop" without giggling for the televised debut of Xbox 2, but before you can say "Could we get some more granularity on that?," Goldman Sachs has additional speculation on the launch of the new game console.

In a research report published Tuesday, the investment company projects the next version of the console will cost between $250 and $300--other analysts have been predicting Microsoft might try to push it up to $400--and will go on sale in October or November. Goldman expects Microsoft will ship 3 million units of the … Read more

Can't afford or find a PlayStation Portable? Chinese gadget specialist GaoMing Electronic has the next best thing--OK, the 87th best thing--with the latest version of its Game King player.

As spotted by the folks at Engadget, the GM-219 sports a chassis that looks strikingly similar to Sony's expensive new toy. Inside, though, it's got the same cutting-edge electronics that have made the Game King line one of the leading electronic entertainment brands to emerge from Guangdong Province.

The player sports a low-resolution monochrome screen that turns out to be more than adequate for playing the handful of … Read more

Microsoft has its Xbox press conference Monday evening, Sony and Nintendo spew to the media Tuesday morning, and 60,000 fanboys go spastic over booth babe cleavage on Wednesday.

That's the way the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) video game trade show in Los Angeles has worked the last couple of years, and we unimaginative journalists can be excused for assuming that's the way it would work this year.

Sony threw a spanner in the works this week, however, when it announced its E3 press conference will happen at 3 p.m. local time on Monday, May 16. That … Read more

We knew gamers would eventually get over this obsession with realistic 3D graphics and return to the core values of interactive entertainment--soldering and programming in BASIC.

Courtesy of the bloggists at Engadget, feast your eyes on the Mignon, described by its German masterminds as a "minimalist" Game Boy alternative based on the notion that it's more fun to do everything yourself.

Which means that once you plunk down your 69 Euros, you'll get a pile of electronics components waiting for your soldering expertise.

If you manage to not burn down your house and the Mignon with … Read more