Sony's new Blu-Ray Christmas ad

Pokemon Farm Footage

You know, there are people who will see this and just freeze. Maybe drool a little, maybe grin toothlessly, maybe even drop to their knees and thank the appropriate deity. I mean, recreating an avatar of yourself that can walk freely amongst a paddock full of Pokemon? You can say what you want about the shitty graphics, the limited "gameplay" (if there even is any), the endless trips Nintendo make to the Pokemon well...and none of it will matter. This thing is going to sell like cakes that have been heated until they're just right.

Car as Pokemon: The Honda Puyo Concept

Move over, Nissan Pivo 2! Honda is is gonna show you how its done. Basically, Honda wishes to convince us that people want their cars to be like cuddly animals, not R2D2, with the introduction of their new "Puyo" concept.

Honda's belief is that people will want a "seamless soft box" that makes them feel like they're enclosed within an "adorable pet." (I don't know what people these are, but apparently Honda's found them and is using them for market research). Like Nissan with its Pivo, Honda also believes that you and your pet car should be able to turn on a dime, and with the Puyo's 360-degree 4-wheel steering, parallel parking will be a cinch even for the novice driver.

The Puyo's exterior is made from a gel-like material to give it a cozy feel and enhance its real-world safety. The gel body has a color-reactive element as well, making it essentially the world's biggest "check engine" light: the Puyo will be able to glow a variety of different hues to communicate to its driver certain aspects of its operating condition. What do you think: are consumers ready for the world's first "mood car," or will the Puyo be better off stalled indefinitely in the concept phase?

'Halo 3' Drives September Video Game Sales

An impressive showing from Microsoft Corp.'s "Halo 3" re-energized the Xbox 360 and pushed U.S. video-game retail sales up 74 percent in September, according to data from market researcher NPD Group.

"Halo 3," the final installment of the hugely popular first-person shooter trilogy for Microsoft Xbox 360, made its debut Sept. 25 and sold 3.3 million units during the month, including collector's editions.

"True to its name, the game rubbed off on hardware sales too - the Xbox 360 realized its best month ever in unit hardware sales outside last holiday season," said Anita Frazier, video game analyst for the NPD Group, in an e-mail. "If ever there was doubt that great content drives hardware acquisition, this should put that doubt to rest."

Video game retail sales reached $1.36 billion in September, up from $778.7 million a year earlier.

Hardware sales, including consoles and handheld systems, more than doubled to $544.9 million. People bought nearly 1.4 million consoles in September, up from just 613,500 a year earlier.

The Xbox 360 was the month's top-selling console, selling 527,800 units, up 91 percent from the 276,700 sold in August.

Source: AP - Forbes

Composer finds his niche in music for video games

Eight years ago, Chris Rickwood got a chance to put his musical skills and his love of video games together. A software engineer at the time, but also a classically trained composer, the Atlantan was asked to write five tracks for a horror game published by THQ Inc.

Today, Rickwood, 34, is one of the nation's pre-eminent composers of video game soundtracks. He's producing all the music and sound effects for the upcoming Sony Xbox game Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom. And he's working on two major games produced by Atlanta companies The Cartoon Network and High-Rez Studios Inc. Over the past eight years, he's composed music for 40-plus titles.

While video games have been popular for decades, they are increasingly becoming more sophisticated as gamers demand more cinema-like experiences.

Mike Tinney, president of CCP North America, says sound is a critical part of the atmosphere of any game. Iceland-based CCP, which has its North American headquarters in Atlanta, produces the popular space game EVE Online and is working on an Internet game based on the gothic World of Darkness comic book series.

Special vest lets players feel video game blows

A US surgeon working on a "tele-health" breakthrough has devised a way for video game warriors to feel shots, stabs, slams, and hits dealt to their on-screen characters.

A vest designed by doctor Mark Ombrellaro uses air pressure and feedback from computer games to deliver pneumatic thumps to the spots on players' torsos where they would have been struck were they actually on the battlefields.

The "3rd Space" vest will make its US debut in November at a price of 189 dollars. It will be launched with the first-person shooter game "Call of Duty" and a custom-made title.

"It was originally designed as a medical device," Ombrellaro told AFP while letting gamers try the vest at the E for All video game exposition in Los Angeles.

"To give medical exams via the Internet to prisoners, the elderly, those in rural communities and other isolated people."

The medical version of the vest is more sophisticated, enabling doctors sitting at their computers to prod, poke and press patients' bodies from afar and get feedback on what they are virtually feeling, according to Ombrellaro.

That model is pending approval by the US Food and Drug Administration, which wants to be assured that diagnosis made using the vests are reliable.

"You can teleconference with patients but you are missing the hands-on," the vascular surgeon said. "Being able to do that is the last step to tele-health."

A 3rd Space vest that mimics the feeling of G-forces and turning pressures for flight and car games is to be launched early next year, after Ombrellaro's company TN Games finds exciting titles to match it with.

TN Games is based in technology giant Microsoft's home town of Redmond, Washington.

"We've had some Microsoft people check it out," Ombrellaro said.

"Orange Box" emerges as video game sleeper hit

What do you get when you throw together a 3-year-old video game, two sequels, a multiplayer variant a decade in the making and a quirky concept game involving a gun that shoots teleportation holes?

If you're Valve Corp, one of the best-regarded independent video game studios, you get "The Orange Box", which is winning rave reviews and emerging as a sleeper hit.

The main game is "Half-Life 2", a shooter set in an Orwellian future where aliens walk freely among us. The game came out in 2004 but is going strong thanks to two expansion packs, 2006's "Episode One" and now "Episode Two".

"We wanted to provide a mix of gameplay mechanics and environments," Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi said of the latest installment.

"We try to give you more of an epic scale than we've done before."

As Valve was putting the finishing touches on "Episode Two", it was also wrapping up "Team Fortress 2", an online multiplayer combat game. The original "Team Fortress" came out in 1996 as a popular free modification for the game "Quake".

"'Team Fortress 2' and 'Episode Two' were kind of on a collision course release-wise," Lombardi said of the decision to sell the games together.

"We said do we want them competing or complementing each other?"

More from Reuters

Activision Brings ''Dancing with the Stars'' Game to the Wii

Get Off the Couch and Dance Like Your Favorite Celebs!

Activision, announced today that they have teamed up with Disney- ABC Television Group’s ABC Entertainment and BBC Worldwide America to create the first ever “Dancing with the Stars” video game for the Wii home video game system. The “Dancing with the Stars” video game gives fans of the show and players of rhythm games exactly what they want – hours and hours of active family fun!

The gameplay in “Dancing with the Stars” for Wii is accessible for gamers of all ages and abilities. The Wii Remote and the Nunchuk is used to physically mimic elegant dance moves while at the same time allowing the player to add his or her own personal flair!

The game, studded with stars like Emmitt Smith and Stacy Keibler, is already quick-stepping into the marketplace with a nationwide promotional push. With this Activision, ABC and BBC Worldwide America partnership, get ready to let your inner dance star shine!

“Dancing with the Stars” for Wii will be available on October 30th, 2007 for $49.99 with a rating of “E 10+” for Ages 10 and up by the ESRB. It will also be available for PlayStation®2 and compatible with the PlayStation®2 Dance Pad on the same date for the price of $39.99. A limited-edition “Dancing with the Stars” dance pad bundled with the PlayStation®2 game will be available on November 13th, 2007 for $49.99.

About Dancing with the Stars

“Dancing with the Stars” airs Mondays at 8:00 p.m., ET and Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m., ET on ABC. Tom Bergeron (“America’s Funniest Home Videos”) hosts alongside special guest host and Season Two champion Drew Lachey, who is graciously filling in for Samantha Harris (“E! Entertainment”) while she is on maternity leave.

“Dancing with the Stars” is the U.S. version of the BBC smash hit series, “Strictly Come Dancing.” This version is produced in America by BBC Worldwide Productions. Conrad Green serves as executive producer and Rob Wade and Matilda Zoltowski are co-executive producers. Alex Rudzinski directs.