Filed under: Gaming

Hey, we can’t blame the folks at Sony for not wanting to write up the obvious on a Friday afternoon, but the firm has stormed back fresh today and doled out the official details regarding the pricing and availability of the 80GB PlayStation 3. As we all expected knew, the 80GB iteration is available en masse for $599 (or $659 CND for those to the north) and comes bundled with MotorStorm. It’s also noted that this higher-end edition joins the recently reduced 60GB model, and while Sony didn’t mention the deals you could get on any remaining 20GB units, they’re certainly out there.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

We’ve seen Lego-fied Wiis, robots, and weaponry, but this fully-functional Guitar Hero controller crafted by an unnamed tipster to TechEBlog might just be the best bit of Lego hackery to date. Based on a Gibson Explorer guitar, the Lego axe neatly conceals the guts of a standard PS2 Guitar Hero controller, and also ups the size to something more closely resembling an actual guitar. While there’s no word on any plans to ceremoniously smash the guitar Pete Townsend-style, we have a feeling that’s going to be a tough temptation to resist — especially considering the fact that it’s one of the few guitars that could actually be rebuilt after seeing such destruction.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming

Just days after the 80GB PlayStation 3 hit the online marketplace, GameStop seems to be clearing out the defunct 20GB iteration for the low, low price of… $449.99. Yeah, that’s not nearly as low as we’d like to see either, but it is still $50 lower than your next available option (that’d be the 60GB flavor). Still, we’re sure these things will sell like hotcakes for one reason or another, but unless you simply must have a PS3 today regardless of HDD size, we’re just not feelin’ the value here.

[Via Joystiq]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming

It would seem that the first-ever iPhone game has been written and is available to download to your Jail-broken device, and true to the natural form of the Microsoft vs. Apple debate, it’s all based around blowing up Zunes. Jason Merchant, a clever (and possibly very bored) iPhone hacker has coded a small game app for the phone wherein you target floating Zunes with your onscreen mini-iPhone, and then blast away with missiles. The Microsoft-fanboy-incensing shooter was written in objective C, and obviously requires that your device has had Jailbreak run on it to allow for the install. The creator says he’s working on an aquarium app which will allow you to drop fish-food to an underwater iPhone, which pretty much makes no sense at all.

[Via Hackint0sh, thanks Boy Genius]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming

Amidst all of this not-exactly-forthright price cutting going on with the Xbox 360, it looks like Microsoft has finally launched a more organized method of detailing and tracking the process of sending your faulty US-based Xbox 360 back in for repair. Reportedly, the new web portal allows American console owners to register their machine, attach a Windows Live ID, schedule a repair, and track the status of said mending. Additionally, users who register will supposedly receive a five dollar credit towards out-of-warranty repair service should they need it, but considering that the warranty was just extended to three full years, you should be covered for a good while yet.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Sure, you can already mouse around on your Linux-booting or web-browsing PS3 system to your heart’s content, but Epic wanted to level the FPS playing field just a bit, and is bringing keyboard and mouse support to its PS3 version of Unreal Tournament 3. Epic VP Mark Rein was concerned that having multiple control methods would give some players an unfair advantage, but apparently those problems have been worked out. In addition to bringing a potential end to those endless mouse vs. dual stick debates (unlikely), this also might mean we’ll be seeing some PC-to-PS3 compatibility for online play, for the ultimate test of fanboy forum smack.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming, Laptops

It looks like Dell is finally readying a followup to its M1710 speedster with the XPS M1730. The 17-inch laptop will of course be packing some Santa Rosa muscle, but according to rumors Dell’s also going to provide that new Core 2 Extreme X7800 chip for the real speed demons / big spenders out there. For graphics the base models will be getting an NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GS card with 256MB of memory, with a 512MB GeForce 8700M GT waiting in the wings. Other rumored specs include 4GB max of RAM and a 512MB or 1GB Intel Turbo Memory option, Bluetooth 2.0, Blu-ray and that welcome numeric keypad addition. The word is this one will go on sale August 27th, and while the paint job is bordering on “crime against humanity,” hopefully Dell will have a few more acceptable options to decorate this gaming beast whenever it does hit the market.

[Thanks, Matthias]

Continue reading Dell XPS M1730 spotted in the wild?

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming

Leave it to Ben Heck — warranty thrasher and modder extraordinaire — to point out an incredibly simple (and warranty-friendly) method of checking out your Xbox 360’s heatsink. Put simply, you invert your console, snap a photo (or three for good measure) through the mesh, and compare your image with the above picture in order to determine if your box is rockin’ the beefed up heatsink we’ve been hearing about. Go on, give it a go yourself, and make sure you report back with details of your findings (and photos for extra street cred).

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming

We’ve already seen the Wiimote straps survive one revision, but now it seems that the oft criticized bands that keep your Wiimote from delving into your television screen (or window) could be seeing yet another improvement. Judging by an image showcasing what appears to be a brand new Wiimote wrist strap, Nintendo has added locking clasps in order to keep the controller snug around your wrist. Currently, there’s been no word on whether existing Wii owners will be receiving any free upgrades, but considering how few Wiinjury reports we’ve seen of late, hopefully this precaution is at least somewhat unwarranted.

P.S. -Any new Wii owners out there seeing this same surprise upon unboxing?

[Via Joystiq]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming

While US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement are remaining tight-lipped about what exactly they have seized thus far, a certain modder has come forward to depict his story and explain the experience of getting raided by the fuzz. After agents woke up his grandmother and perused her domicile with a warrant in hand, they confiscated a number of consoles and spare parts around the house before heading out to find the man behind FallsInc. Once locating him at his girlfriend’s dwelling, they persuaded him to hand over everything even remotely related to modding, and he was left with “nothing of worth” outside of a computer monitor and his vehicle. Unsurprisingly, the culprit (or victim, depending on perspective) feels that his “life was taken away by a ludicrous interpretation of the DCMA” as the “little guy” was taken down while mass piraters remain at large. To read his whole account, be sure and tag the read link.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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