I read lately that you can go ahead and plug your USB Xbox 360 controller in windows, and by simply downloading the free xbox controller driver; bam! you’re in business.

To use the wireless version of the controller in windows, you must purchase this wireless usb adapter. It’s only $20 bucks, so it’s a very nominal price for any pc gamer.

I think that it’s great to be able to use these controllers within windows. It makes sense since the Xbox is a Microsoft product, but it’s the compatability of all types of hardware and software (drivers) that I think people overlook in Windows. It’s probably Window’s strongest characteristic.

I personally have used the 360 controller and I think it’s a really great controller, perhaps even the best I have seen to date. I personally like the dreamcast controller alot, but that’s because it’s a very unique. The 360 controller is the perfect size, has a great grip, excellent buttons, wireless function and a lot of extras. You can even plug a headset into the actual controller. I play mame games every so often on my computer, and I currently have two Logitech Dual Action controllers. I have never really liked the way the d-pad’s work on the logitech’s, they are way too stiff and sometimes hinder you from doing those moves at the right moment, like in street fighter. It’s very important to have a controller that can get the right feedback you’re trying to give it, and the Xbox controller does just that.

For any PC-joypad gamer, this is a must have.

The Sony Rolly

Dancing robot mp3 player. Robot? It actually resembles an oblong egg. Basically you load this thing up with mp3’s, hit play, and it performs a lightshow with movement to go with the music.This has got to be the most useless piece of tech I have ever seen. I mean, at least that robot vacuum Roomba had a purpose around the house!

This is just a complete waste of money, another “must have” gadget for people that need to be the center of the spotlight when playing their music. Or maybe it’s just for home personal use? Yes, I can see myself sitting in my computer chair staring at this little piece of robotics twirling around for the full length of a 5 minute track—yeah, right.

The features of this overpriced piece of junk include bluetooth (for streaming music from your computer), programmable dance moves, wifi, and dual cameras built into the sides which work with a mirroring system. Some like to think this is kind of like a “home pet” that will wander the house and do stuff for you, although I think this might just be speculation. Imagine getting up for a glass of milk in the middle of the night, and stepping on this thing at the top of your staircase and losing $350 bucks along with your life.

Oh, and thats the cost that is floating around for this slice of technology, $350 smackeroos. A pretty expensive toy for what it does. I’m sure rigging up a first generation IPOD to a radio shack remote control toy car might be more cost effective.

Just so this post isn’t all negatives about the product, I will say that the fine motor work involved with the device is inspiring. The device as a whole is quite useless, but the technology that makes it up might prove useful in Sony’s later products.

From: Joystiq

At a media summit this morning in San Francisco, Nintendo of America’s George Harrison (via MTV Multiplayer) has confirmed that the US version of Smash Bros. Brawl will follow in its Japanese brethren’s footsteps and be delayed until February 10, 2008.

The loss of this future bestseller during the holiday season will definitely sadden some fans (and Nintendo’s profit margin), but then again Mario Galaxy is also coming in November (so far as we know) and it was always uncharacteristic of Nintendo to space AAA-title releases so close together.

No word yet on a delay for PAL territories, though we suspect a similar fate.

From: Sci -Fi Tech

To put the recent review of the Dell XPS 710 box in perspective for you, here’s something you can get for $1,500 less than that quad-core monster: a 100-inch arcade gaming machine. Comprised of a projector, a 100-inch screen, and a PC loaded up with arcade games, it certainly won’t be able to handle F.E.A.R. as well as the XPS, but to be fair the XPS doesn’t come with a 100-inch screen.

So which is a better deal for gamers looking to drop between $4,000 and $6,000 on a gaming setup this holiday season? That all depends on if you like new games or old games and if you like buying your electronics from reputable companies or from poorly proofread websites. If you like the latter of each, then call up Dream Arcade and give ‘em your credit card! You’ll get a “high end PC with AMD Athlon 64 3200+ CPU” (that’s all the info you get on it), a “High output DLP projector,” and a “100-inh portable projection screen.” Sounds like a smart purchase to me. For a mere $4,500, you can’t go wrong. — Adam Frucci

My Opinion: While I think the control system is very nicely designed, and the huge screen is a plus; I don’t see the $4500.00 price tag justified. The cost of the computer, projector, projection screen, and control deck – materials wise, cannot exceed $2500.00 dollars. I think there probably is a lot of labor involved in the construction of the controls-panel; and that’s probably where the remainder of the cost comes in. Usually arcade controls are handmade and tested, so there is usually quite a bit of effort put into these setups. If I owned a sports bar or something, I can definatley see this as a great investment.

Although as always MAME related cabinets and setups have always been a DIY lovers’ project. In perspective the cost for a pre-built system like the one above is easily WORTH $4500.00 dollars when you think of all the work you would have to put in on setting up the controllers, wiring, and frame. For someone who has no concept of how to build their own Arcade system – this is a great deal.

I recently accquired the XFX 8800 GTX.The first thing you notice about the card is that it’s friggin’ huge! It’s 10.5 inches long, and takes up two slots worth of space on your motherboard. The design is very sturdy with a solid heatsync and slot fan. Most graphics cards I have seen have put very little emphasis on the stock heat sync and fan, which doesn’t make much sense when you consider how hot a kickin’ GPU can get.

What the card is capable of:

I can basically run Enemy Territory: Quake Wars on set to Maximum. All graphical settings are on their highest (high/ultra) set at 1600×1200 with Antisotropic Filtering set to 16x and Anti-Aliasing set to 8x. Even at this extremely high setting, the game can still hold a steady 60 FPS.

I have yet to try any other games, but I have a feeling that I will be able to run any prior released games at their highest setting. Quake Wars was released October 2nd so it is a very new game that uses some pretty advanced graphics, shadowing, weapons effects, and textures. It is also the only game using megatexture technology, which might actually make it run better than games that use individual textures to cover a complete map.

My experience using this card within Vista has been mediokre. I currently use XP through dualboot for gaming because Vista has a ways to come to be able to run games as fast as Windows XP. Hopefully SP1 for Vista will improve performance enough so that this isn’t an issue.